1. Pursuant to section 172I of the Electricity Act 1992,
I notify the amendment of the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 (“Rules”) under section 172H of the Electricity Act 1992 (“Act”).
2. The empowering provision for the electricity governance regulations in relation to which the Rules are made is section 172D (1) (5) of the Act.
3. A brief description of the nature of the rule amendments is as follows:
? The insertion of a provision into Rule 2.1.5.1 of Section II of Part F of the Rules to allow the Minister of Energy (“Minister”) the discretion to grant a period of longer than 20 business days in which the Electricity Commission (“Commission”) must complete its consideration of submissions in relation to the structure of transmission agreements; and
? minor amendments to the definitions of “Board” and “transmission pricing methodology” in Part A of the Rules to reflect the change of the Commission’s name as enacted under the Electricity Amendment Act 2004 and to correct a typographical error.
4. The amendments to Part A of the Rules are made in reliance on section 172F (3) of the Act.
5. Pursuant to section 172Z (4) of the Act, the reasons for my decision to amend the Rules are that:
? it is possible that there will be a large number of submissions on the structure of transmission agreements, some of which may be complex and in conflict with one another;
? transmission agreement structure and counterparty issues have been unresolved in the electricity industry for some years. The Commission will address this issue for the first time in 2005, and it is extremely important that due consideration is given to the issues before determining an outcome that is likely to influence many aspects
of transmission for many years to come. It is therefore prudent to provide for the possibility that the Commission may require a longer consideration period than is currently allowed for under Rule 2.1.5.1 of Section II of Part F; and
? the proposed amendment to Rule 2.1.5.1 of Section II
of Part F brings it into line with the provisions of
Rule 2.2.4.1 of Section II of Part F, which deals with
the Commission’s consideration of submissions on the proposed categories of designated transmission customers. The Commission’s deliberations on the categories of designated transmission customers and the structure
of transmission agreements are inextricably linked. Bringing the provisions of the two Rules into line allows the Commission to consider the submissions on these two linked issues in the same timeframe.
6. These Rules come into force on 30 June 2005.
7. Copies of the Rules may be inspected free of charge or purchased from the Electricity Commission, Level Seven, ASB Bank Tower, 2 Hunter Street, Wellington.
The Rules can also be viewed on the Electricity Commission web site:
http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/rulesandregs/rules
Dated at Wellington this 19th day of May 2005.
TREVOR MALLARD, Minister of Energy.
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