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Electricity Industry Act 2010

Electricity industry governance - Electricity Industry Participation Code - Application of other Acts

44E: Illegal contracts

You could also call this:

“Rules about when you can cancel agreements that break electricity company rules”

The law says that if you make a legal agreement, it doesn’t become illegal just because it breaks some rules in the Electricity Industry Code about keeping companies separate or dealing with each other fairly.

If you make an agreement that breaks these Code rules, the people who didn’t break the rules can cancel the agreement if they want to. They can do this by writing to the other people involved within one month of finding out about the rule-breaking.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS747959.

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Business > Industry rules Environment and resources > Climate and energy
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44D: Not interconnected under Commerce Act 1986, or

"Companies following electricity rules are treated as separate businesses under competition law"

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44F: Substance matters, not form, or

"The real actions matter more than how they're written down"

Part 2 Electricity industry governance
Electricity Industry Participation Code: Application of other Acts

44EIllegal contracts

  1. An agreement lawfully entered into does not become illegal or unenforceable by any party by reason of the fact that its performance is in breach of a provision in the Code relating to corporate separation or arm’s-length rules.

  2. An agreement entered into in breach of a Code provision relating to corporate separation or arm’s-length rules is voidable, at the option of any party to the agreement who is not in breach of the Code provision, by notice in writing to the other party or parties, at any time within 1 month after the innocent party has notice that the agreement is in breach of the Code provision.

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