Message from our Chair, Anna Kominik

Tēnā koutou,

On behalf of the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority), the Board and kaimahi, I’m pleased to highlight that we’ve just published our 2023/24 Annual Report.

I invite you to read it (or at least the highlights!) in the context of the significant changes and challenges the sector and the Authority are grappling with, which will continue through this financial year and beyond.

In the year reported, we started making key changes within the Authority to enable a shift in the way we regulate, to become more responsive and adaptive to the changing needs of electricity consumers and an evolving market. A refreshed Board and leadership team early in the last financial year have provided a firm foundation for better performance for consumers.

The report details significant progress made in key areas like consumer protection, market competition, and enabling innovation, while acknowledging the ongoing challenges posed by a rapidly changing energy landscape. Some important achievements this year have been:

• Security of supply: Four options were permanently implemented to mitigate risks to electricity supply, and consultations were held regarding the future operation of the electricity system.

• Consumer protection: Consumer Care Guidelines to strengthen consumer protections and ensure a consistent standard of care from electricity retailers.

• Promoting investment and innovation: A new generation investment dashboard was launched to provide market participants with more accessible data, helping to inform investment and contract decisions, improve visibility of generation development, and monitor new generation entering the market.

• Promoting competition: Improving data collection and monitoring capabilities, particularly in the retail market, to gain better insights into market behaviour, identify potential issues, and make informed policy decisions.

We believe the future will inevitably see consumers more in control of their electricity use, alongside increased uptake of electric modes of transport, battery storage and smart chargers. These changes will all contribute to greater consumer choice, help stabilise the grid and strengthen community resilience to support security of supply in the face of changing weather patterns and natural disasters.

We know tweaking at the margins won’t give consumers the security, affordability and flexibility they need, so the Board has required a tangible step change in approach.

For the sake of consumers, communities and the economy, we must get past winter-to-winter management and create a stable and sustained pathway to secure energy supply. There is no single, simple answer, but we must prepare for a future where a larger and more diverse group of participants interact in the market, and security of supply is as much about demand response as transmission towers and power lines.

To make this vision a reality, the Authority recently published a multi-year plan, setting out what we expect to deliver in the short, medium and long term, and - most importantly - the benefits this will provide to consumers. We are continuing to develop longer-term forecasting and planning for the benefit of the market and consumers. We are supported in this through a modest increase in our baseline funding in this current financial year that enables the Authority to deliver on its workplan. We are grateful to everyone who submitted on our levy consultation and those who supported this increase.

I want to also thank those regulated parties, agencies, industry and consumer representatives who work with us every day through various advisory groups, engagements and in our consumer wānanga.

While we haven’t got it all right yet, we will continue to identify when and where trade-offs are necessary, make the tough but necessary decisions, and be proactive about ensuring market rules enable better outcomes for Aotearoa New Zealand.

We look forward to working alongside the sector and our diverse communities to deliver improved outcomes for consumers.