Powerco

Our response to the Commerce Commission's Electricity DPP4 Draft Decision tackles critical issues that will shape the future of the electricity distribution businesses (EDBs) in Aotearoa. The Commission’s final decision in November this year determines the level of investment and our revenue for the five years starting April 2025 - it will be pivotal for ensuring EDBs have the right incentives and funding to meet changing customer needs and support New Zealand's electrification goals. The Commission’s draft decision is pragmatic under challenging circumstances. However, we’re concerned that aspects could slow down the energy transition and lead to costly trade-offs. Our submission highlights key areas where changes could better support EDBs in fulfilling their roles and promote long-term benefits for consumers: • Enabling appropriate operating expenditure and flexibility mechanisms to deliver electricity at the lowest cost. Otherwise there is a risk that EDBs can’t make efficient investments at the right time, and/or they will have to make a higher cost capital investment.  • Raising the cap on historical average capital investment from 125% to 130% would have a minimal impact on customers (an estimated $0.57 increase in monthly bills per installation control point for our network) but would mitigate the risks of under-investment and help us keep pace with the energy transition.  • A higher cap for the innovation and non-traditional solutions allowance (e.g. 2.5% of our maximum allowable revenue is essential during this critical change period to enable testing, progressing, and investing in future-focused electricity services). • Approval of some important workforce requests which the Commission declined despite concerns about EDBs' ability to deliver increased investment plans. EDBs need the confidence and resources to expand their workforce to meet increased demands. Read our submission: https://lnkd.in/gfjFxCrS James Kilty Chris Taylor Karen Frew Jemma Gerring Ryno Verster Don Elers Stuart Dickson

We’re celebrating our first green loan certified under the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). Being CBI-accredited was important to us because it demonstrates our commitment to managing our electricity network sustainably - minimising environmental impact and taking asset resilience to a changing climate into account.  To be certified we had to show how we consider those factors throughout the asset lifecycle - from planning through to construction, operations and decommissioning. It’s the way we should all be thinking, so while we’re the first EDB to do one under the scheme's Electrical Grids and Storage criteria we don’t think we’ll be the last. We’re proud to be enabling the sustainable energy transition for the Kiwis we serve, and our investors agree. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/gjpZzXBq #electricity #sustainability #growtozero James Kilty Chris Taylor Karen Frew Don Elers Stuart DicksonJemma Gerring Ryno Verster QIC Dexus

More ultra-fast electric vehicle (EV) chargers are available on our network with the introduction of four new chargers at Z Energy on Courtenay Street in New Plymouth🚘🚘🚘🚘 Thanks to Kiwi innovators Kwetta (Formerly Red Phase) , the new EV chargers have not required a capacity upgrade to Powerco’s network to support the extra load EV charging requires. ✔️The innovative technology has the smarts to help manage power consumption during periods of high network load.  ✔️The tech is also future proof, capable of delivering megawatt-scale energy as the heavy vehicle sector begins to electrify.  Read more:  https://lnkd.in/ge5-Ebrn James Kilty Ryno Verster Karen Frew Chris Taylor Stuart Dickson Jemma Gerring Don Elers

🧣Knitting for Cool Kids is just one of the many community groups to receive funding from our 2023 Powerco Community Fund. 🧶This keen group of knitters create beanies, slippers, scarves and mittens for new entrant pupils at schools throughout Taranaki, to help keep our Tamariki warm during winter.🧤 Do you know of a community group that could benefit from additional funding? Our next round of funding opens this week. To find out more visit https://lnkd.in/eu5pxZEQ #Warmth #Powerco_NZ #Community #Fund James Kilty Stuart Dickson Jemma Gerring Karen Frew Ryno Verster Chris Taylor Don Elers

What do fibre optics have to do with electricity distribution? Quite a bit actually... We're installing a 164km dark fibre network in the Coromandel region so we can send data to and from our Network Operations Centre in Taranaki. That'll see us monitor demand, pinpoint the location of outages with more accuracy and conduct remote switching. What makes this project different is that we started thinking about how our customers could get more benefits from their new fibre asset. So to maximise how the fibre would be used, and to spread the cost of investment we sought to collaborate with telcos. That led to an agreement with Chorus to use some of the fibre's spare capacity. That's a win for infrastructure in Aotearoa, and we'd be keen to do more of it. Massive shoutout to the Northpower team who we've partnered with for the install. More in the clip below. James Kilty Karen Frew Don Elers Ryno Verster Jemma Gerring Chris Taylor Stuart Dickson Eric Pellicer  #infrastructure #electricity

We've gone live with our new demand capacity map. Along with our distributed generation (DG) hosting capacity map, which we launched last year, we’re now sharing our high voltage (HV) network’s capability to supply additional electricity load. Whether you’re planning a greenfield development, expanding existing operations or looking to connect EV fast chargers to our high-voltage network, our demand capacity map provides valuable preliminary planning data. Prospective customers considering connecting large new or increased loads to our network, can use this map as a pre-screening tool to gauge if there’s available demand capacity at their chosen location before submitting a capacity availability enquiry. With this map, we aim to provide an improved customer experience and create efficiencies – to enable a sustainable energy transition that supports connecting developments to electricity network wherever possible. The map can be found via links on our ‘Commercial and industrial electricity’ webpage https://lnkd.in/g4vWMH7E and ‘EV charging infrastructure’ webpage https://lnkd.in/gsSPdFhD Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gEFMWzbk #Greenfield #Commercial #Industrial #EV #Electricity #CapacityMap #Powerco_NZ James Kilty Karen Frew Ryno Verster Stuart Dickson Chris Taylor Jemma Gerring Don Elers Eric Pellicer

We're trialling an innovative approach to managing trees next to our power lines - using a tree-trimming saw suspended below a helicopter. 🚁🪚🌲 We recently successfully completed cutting trees in a forestry block, adjacent to SH33 Paengaroa in western Bay of Plenty, that were growing too close to power lines. In just one hour, the heli-saw successfully cut an 800m-stretch of forestry block – that's 160 trees - adjacent to a section running alongside the road, saving days of work and thousands of dollars. To enable the work to be carried out safely, the power lines along the cut zone on SH33 were disconnected and dropped to the ground while the aerial cutting was undertaken. Traffic management was also in place, with traffic being stopped at a safe distance in both directions for 10-minute periods while the helicopter worked.  It took two runs for the entire length of pine trees to have their branches cut back to the trunk.  We'll look to use the heli-saw again, mostly to maintain clearance corridors - 20m each side of the lines - in forestry blocks. Falling trees and branches in forestry blocks contribute to a number of faults on the Powerco network. Thanks for the great work Lakeview Helicopters! You can read more about the work and the helicopter specs here: https://lnkd.in/gVzrfYQ3 #Helisaw #Trees #Electricity #Powerco_NZ James Kilty Karen Frew Stuart Dickson  Ryno Verster Jemma Gerring Chris Taylor Don Elers

We’re making it easier for solar energy companies, installers and customers on our electricity network with a new online portal for distributed generation (DG) applications. Whether installing residential or small business solar, customers can now simply log applications online and track the job status progress.  Using customer relationship management (CRM) platform Salesforce, this new way of digitally managing residential and small business DG applications is just the start. We’re on a journey to make it easier for our customers and partners to connect with us. We recently launched a new tool for sending texts to customers to alert them of work on our network that affects them. Next – making it easier for customers to request new connections, upgrades and other work on our network. Watch this space! Find out more about solar power for home and business here: https://lnkd.in/g-jt4QXi #Solar #DistributedGeneration #OnlinePortal #Powerco_NZ James Kilty Stuart Dickson Karen Frew Ryno Verster Don Elers Jemma Gerring Chris Taylor

As we face increasingly extreme weather events, there's a pressing need to support our communities through the effects of climate change. The latest of our communities receiving emergency backup generation to boost community resilience is Coromandel township. Powerco General Manager Electricity Karen Frew: "Natural disasters like we felt in Cyclone Gabrielle leave communities like Coromandel, who only have one power line supplying the town so no backup if there’s an outage, potentially isolated, with limited access for our crews to repair any damage to poles and lines. Installing generation means there’s a backup supply ready to go if the worst happens,” Karen Frew says. Two generators are being installed within the Thames Coromandel District Council’s water treatment site on Whangapoua Rd, Coromandel, and will have the capacity to power about 3,000 homes and businesses. They are expected to be fully operational during September. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/gPGs_GVK #Electricity #resilience #power #communities #Powerco_NZ James Kilty Karen Frew Ryno Verster Stuart Dickson Chris Taylor Jemma Gerring Don Elers

We’re focused on ensuring we have the future capabilities the electricity industry needs to enable Aotearoa to electrify. That’s why we’re developing a dedicated Controller Training Programme, specifically tailored for our trainee and future Network Controllers (Control Room Operators). Given our industry’s reliance on experienced Controllers, this training programme is vital for the success of current and future network operations. The programme’s aim is to transition people with electrical experience to qualified Network Controllers, ready to handle desk responsibilities confidently and safely. Collaborating with other electricity distribution businesses (EDBs) across the country, we have established a working group to ensure the dedicated Controller Training Programme extends beyond Powerco. Powerco Head of Network Operations, Caz Haydon: “This initiative presents a remarkable opportunity to benefit all EDBs in New Zealand and we eagerly anticipate working with the industry to achieve this goal. “We’re fully committed to making this programme a success and believe it will help lead New Zealand in cultivating passionate, talented, and safety-conscious Network Controllers.” Going to the Electricity Engineers' Association of New Zealand conference is September? Caz will be presenting at the conference about our progress with the Controller Training Programme. #Electricity #NetworkControl #Capabilities #Powerco_NZ James Kilty Karen Frew Ryno Verster Stuart Dickson Jemma Gerring Don Elers Chris Taylor James Kilty Karen Frew