2019 Monitoring reports

We established a financial transmission rights (FTR) market with the first auction taking place in June 2013. Most FTR users consider them an effective tool to have in their risk management strategy, with several indicating FTRs play a significant role. Two respondents said FTRs had been a significant factor in enabling them to expand their retailing into new geographical areas. Half of FTR users said they had enabled them to underwrite or support other risk management products. Read about these and other findings in the report.

The national market for instantaneous reserve (NMIR), introduced at the end of 2016, was successful in increasing the efficiency of the reserve market without sacrificing security. This report shows a number of findings, including that if average demand and peak demand increase in future, then the benefits of NMIR would increase. There is also a chance that in future higher reserve prices in the South Island could entice more participants into the reserve market, such as IL providers, which would further increase competition in the market.

The retail data project (RDP) aimed to increase consumer participation in the electricity market and by doing so increase competition and innovation. The objective was to increase consumer participation by making it easier for consumers to decide what products and services they consume. Consumers and their agents were given easier access to and use of the information they need for these decisions. The project also aimed to make access to this information easier for third party providers (TPPs), so they could provide consumers with an easier way of making decisions, and use the data to come up with innovative new services for consumers.

The primary focus of the study was to obtain an informed perspective on how distributors are adapting to technology-driven change in their operating environment. We conducted a survey of New Zealand electricity distributors and compared it with responses from broader industry survey results. We also surveyed and interviewed a selection of industry stakeholders to gather information on how stakeholder views compared with distributor views. Our key findings covered a broad range of topics.