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Commerce Act 1986

Regulated goods or services - Electricity lines services - Transpower grid upgrade plans and capital expenditure proposals

54R: Approval of Transpower's grid upgrade plans

You could also call this:

"Checking Transpower's plans to upgrade the power grid"

Illustration for Commerce Act 1986

When Transpower wants to upgrade the power grid, they make a plan. The Commission is now in charge of approving these plans. This change happened on 1 November 2010.

The Commission will look at plans that Transpower has already made, and plans they make in the future. They will use rules from the Electricity Governance Rules to decide if a plan is good. These rules help the Commission make sure the plan is fair and good for everyone.

The Commission can change the timeline for approving a plan, but they must talk to Transpower first. The Electricity Authority must give the Commission all the information they have about plans that were being considered before 1 November 2010. This will help the Commission make good decisions about the power grid upgrades.

The Commission must follow certain rules when approving plans, which are explained in section 54S and section 52W. They must also follow the Electricity Industry Act 2010, which can be found here. You can find more information about the Electricity Governance Rules and the grid upgrade plan in these rules.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1940056.

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Part 4Regulated goods or services
Electricity lines services: Transpower grid upgrade plans and capital expenditure proposals

54RApproval of Transpower's grid upgrade plans

  1. The role of the Electricity Commission in requesting or approving grid upgrade plan proposals by Transpower (including proposals to amend existing grid upgrade plans) is transferred to the Commission on the commencement date.

  2. Subsection (1) applies both to proposals made on and after the commencement date and to any proposals that were requested or under consideration by the Electricity Commission before the commencement date.

  3. Until the input methodology required by section 54S is determined and published as referred to in section 52W,—

  4. Transpower must comply with Part F of the Electricity Governance Rules, as that Part relates to grid upgrade plan proposals; and
    1. when considering grid upgrade plan proposals, the Commission—
      1. must apply, with any necessary modifications, the grid investment test set out in Schedule F4 of Part F of the Electricity Governance Rules; and
        1. must apply, with any necessary modifications, those parts of section III of Part F of the Electricity Governance Rules that relate to the process for approving grid upgrade plans (which includes rules 12 to 15 and 17.2); and
          1. need not repeat any processes already undertaken by the Electricity Commission or undertake any processes that the Electricity Commission would have been required to undertake.

          2. To avoid doubt,—

          3. subsection (1) takes effect on the commencement date whether or not the Commerce Act (Transpower Thresholds) Notice 2008 or any administrative settlement between the Commission and Transpower has been amended to reflect the transfer referred to in that subsection; and
            1. nothing in this section affects the transfer from the Electricity Commission to the Electricity Authority of all other roles relating to transmission, such as setting grid reliability standards and the transmission pricing methodology.

              1. The Commission may change any timetables previously agreed for consultation on, and approval of, grid upgrade plan proposals, but must first consult Transpower on any timetable changes.

              2. To facilitate the transfer of roles referred to in subsection (1), the Electricity Authority must give the Commission copies of all information it holds regarding grid upgrade plan proposals that were under consideration by the Electricity Commission before the commencement date.

              3. In this section,—

                commencement date means 1 November 2010

                  Electricity Governance Rules means the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 as they were immediately before their revocation by the Electricity Industry Act 2010

                    grid upgrade plan has the meaning set out in the Electricity Governance Rules.

                    Notes
                    • Section 54R: substituted, on , by section 155 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010 (2010 No 116).
                    • Section 54R(3): amended, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).