1. This notice of a recommendation and assessment concerning the Electricity Governance Regulations 2003 ("EG Regulations"), proposed Electricity Governance Amendment Regulations 2008, is issued by the Electricity Commission ("Commission") pursuant to section 172E(2)(c) of the Electricity Act 1992 ("Act").
2. Section 172E(2)(c) of the Act provides that, no later
than 10 working days after making a recommendation to
the Minister of Energy concerning the EG Regulations, the Commission must publicise the recommendation and
the assessment completed under section 172F of the Act.
Recommendations
3. On 1 February 2008, the Commission recommended that the following amendments be made to the EG Regulations:
(a) Amendments to Regulations 199(1) and 199(2),
and consequential amendments to Regulations
201, 203(1), 203(2), 204, 205, 206(a) and 207(1) (regarding an exception from Part F of the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 ("Rules") for
the Comalco agreements);
(b) an amendment to Regulation 63(1) and a consequential amendment to Regulation 182(c) (regarding the reporting of breaches of the
rules relating to quality and security in Part F of
the Rules); and
(c) an amendment to Regulation 114 and insertion of
a new Regulation 114A (regarding compensation
for breaches of the outage protocol and limits on liability for breaches of new Sections VI or VII of Part F of the Rules).
4. The Commission also recommended that the following minor or technical amendments be made to the EG Regulations in reliance on section 172F(3) of the Act:
(a) Amending Regulations 51, 59(b), 97, 101(2), 103(1), 103(4), 108, 147(a), 152(2), 194(5)(d), 196(2) and 208;
(b) inserting new Regulation 180A;
(c) revoking Regulation 100, Regulation 133 and paragraph (g) of the definition of "participant" in Regulation 4(1);
(d) amending the EG Regulations throughout by omitting the term "Board" in each place where it appears and substituting it with a reference to "Commission";
(e) revoking the definition of "Board" in Regulation 4(1) and substituting it with a definition of "Commission"; and
(f) revoking and substituting Regulations 95(1), 109, 162 to 170 and 171 to 178.
5. Section 172F(3) of the Act provides that the Commission is not required to comply with section 172F(1) (which relates to carrying out an assessment) if it is satisfied that
the effect of the recommendation is minor and will not adversely affect the interests of any person in a substantial way. In reliance on section 172F(3), no such assessment was carried out under section 172F(1) of the Act for the minor amendments set out in paragraph 4 above.
Recommended Amendments to the EG Regulations
6. The recommended amendments to the EG Regulations will:
(a) extend the special provisions relating to the
Comalco agreements, so that Part F of the Rules
will not apply to any act or omission of a Comalco party to the extent that the act or omission is necessary to perform an obligation, or to exercise
a right or power, under the disclosed provision
of a Comalco agreement (amendments listed in paragraph 3(a) above);
(b) require a participant who believes, on reasonable grounds, that it or another participant has breached any rules relating to quality and security in Part F of the Rules to notify the Commission as soon as practicable (amendment to Regulation 63(1)), and require the Rulings Panel to include information about such breaches in its quarterly reports to the Commission (consequential amendment to Regulation 182(c));
(c) specify additional matters for the Rulings Panel to consider when making decisions on compensation for breaches of the outage protocol (amendment to Regulation 114), and place caps on the liability of Transpower and designated transmission customers in relation to breaches of Sections VI or VII of Part F of the Rules (new Regulation 114A); and
(d) make various minor or technical amendments to the EG Regulations, including those required to improve drafting clarity or consistency, or as a consequence of the Electricity Amendment Act 2004, the Crown Entities Act 2004 and the new reconciliation rules (new Part J and related changes to other Parts of the Rules).
7. Copies of the Commission's recommendation and assessments for the amendments described in paragraph
3 above are available, at no cost, on the Commission's website at
http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/rulesandregs/recommend
and
http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/pdfs/rulesandregs/recommend/pdfsrecommend/RP-40-64-Assessment.pdf
Dated at Wellington this 5th day of February 2008.
For and on behalf of the Electricity Commission:
DAVID CAYGILL, Chair.