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Electricity Industry Act 2010

Electricity industry governance - Electricity Industry Participation Code - Other content

44B: Minister may amend Code to include specified matters

You could also call this:

“Minister can update electricity rules to make things fairer for everyone”

You should know that the Minister can change the rules about electricity, which are called the Code. The Minister can do this for specific reasons if they think the current rules aren’t good enough and if the changes will help make electricity better for everyone.

The Minister can change the rules about:

  • How quickly electricity companies must give you information about your electricity use when you ask for it.
  • Stopping electricity companies from trying too hard to keep customers who want to switch to a different company.
  • Making electricity companies give information to help people understand why it’s good to compare different companies and maybe switch.
  • Making the companies that own the power lines offer fair deals to all electricity companies.
  • Making some electricity companies share information to help the electricity market work better.
  • Making some electricity companies agree to buy and sell electricity in certain ways to keep the market fair.
  • Making companies that both make and sell electricity share information about how much money they make from selling to customers.

Before the Minister can change these rules, they have to talk to the Electricity Authority and other important people. The Minister can only make these changes between one and three years after this new rule started.

In this law, ‘save’ means when an electricity company tries to keep you as a customer when you want to leave, and ‘win-back’ means when they try to get you back after you’ve already decided to switch to a different company.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS747955.

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44A: Distribution agreements, or

"Rules for agreements between power companies and others who use their networks"

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44C: Interpretation, or

"Explaining what important words mean in this part of the electricity law"

Part 2 Electricity industry governance
Electricity Industry Participation Code: Other content

44BMinister may amend Code to include specified matters

  1. The Minister may amend the Code by including provisions for any matter specified in subsection (2) if the Minister—

  2. considers that the Code’s provisions for the specified matter are not satisfactory; and
    1. is satisfied that the amendment will further the Authority’s objectives in section 15.

      1. The matters referred to in subsection (1) are as follows:

      2. requirements for retailers to process consumer requests for information about their electricity consumption in a timely way:
        1. limitations on retailer saves and win-backs:
          1. requirements for retailers to provide information to the Authority to enable the Authority to better direct its efforts under section 16(1)(i) (which relates to promoting to consumers the benefits of comparing and switching retailers):
            1. requirements for distributors to offer retailers standard terms for access to their networks:
              1. requirements for certain categories of industry participant to make available information directed at improving the performance of the wholesale market:
                1. requirements for certain industry participants to act as market makers in relation to the trading of some wholesale electricity contracts:
                  1. requirements for some or all industry participants that are both generators and retailers to release information about the profitability of their retailing activities.

                    1. The Minister may amend the Code under this section as if the Minister were the Authority, and sections 38 to 40 apply accordingly, with any necessary modifications.

                    2. Before amending the Code, the Minister must consult the Authority (in addition to any consultation required under section 39).

                    3. The power given by this section may not be exercised earlier than 1 year after, and not more than 3 years after, the date on which this section comes into force.

                    4. In this section,—

                      save, in relation to a retailer, means action taken by the retailer to initiate contact with a consumer that is intending to switch its electricity supply from the retailer to another retailer, in an attempt to retain the consumer’s business

                        win-back, in relation to a retailer, means action taken by the retailer to initiate contact with a consumer that has agreed to switch its electricity supply from the retailer to another retailer, in an attempt to retain the consumer’s business.

                        Notes
                        • Section 44B: inserted, on , by section 20 of the Electricity Industry Amendment Act 2022 (2022 No 46).