Public Conference:  Call for Submissions

On 31 January 2007, the Electricity Commission published a notice of intention pdf [235 KB] to approve the investment described in Transpower’s North Island Grid Upgrade Proposal submitted to the Electricity Commission on 20 October 2006.

Since then, the Commission has received several requests for a public conference under rule 15.2 of section III of part F of the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 and has agreed to hold a public conference.  The purpose of the public conference is to provide a final opportunity for comment on the proposed investment.

In order to make the process as transparent and efficient as possible, the Commission would invite interested parties (whether intending to present at the conference or not) to provide a written submission in order to assist the Commission in making its final decision.
As part of its preparation for the public conference, the Commission invites submissions on the Commission’s decision to approve the Proposal.

The Commission’s detailed explanation and reasoning for its decision are set out in:

• its recently released paper "Reasons for Decision pdf [522 KB] set out in Notice of Intention to approve Transpower’s North Island Grid Upgrade Proposal"; and
• other supporting material
  

To assist the Commission in its consideration, please supply evidence of facts and analysis to support your views wherever possible.

When you provide your submission, please indicate whether you wish to present your submission at the public conference. 

The Commission must receive written submissions by no later than 5.00pm on 30 March 2007.  Please note that submissions received after this deadline may not be considered.

The Commission’s preference is to receive submissions in electronic form (Microsoft Word).  It is not necessary for parties submitting to send the Commission hard copies of their submissions, unless it is not possible to provide submissions electronically.  Submissions in electronic form should be emailed with “Transpower’s North Island grid upgrade proposal: decision” in the subject header. 

Submissions should be sent to:

E-mail: info@electricitycommission.govt.nz

Jenny Walton
Electricity Commission
Level 7, ASB Bank Tower
2 Hunter Street
PO Box 10041
Wellington 6036

Tel:     04 460 8860
Fax:    04 460 8879

The Commission will acknowledge receipt of all submissions by email.  Please contact Jenny Walton at the Commission if you do not receive acknowledgement of your submission within two business days.

The Commission intends to publish all submissions received on its website: http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/.  Please indicate any documents attached in support of your submission in a covering letter and clearly indicate any information that is provided to the Commission on a confidential basis.  If your submission contains confidential material, please provide the Commission with both confidential and public versions of your submission.  The responsibility for ensuring that confidential information is not included in a public version of a submission rests entirely with the party making the submission.

Submitters should note that the submissions provided to the Commission will be “official information” under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).

If the Commission receives a request for the release of information contained in a submission, it will be required to consider whether the information must be released in whole or in part, in terms of the criteria set out in the OIA.  This would be done in consultation with the submitter.  The Commission can withhold official information in certain circumstances.  The grounds for the Commission withholding official information are set out in the OIA.  Any decision by the Commission to withhold information is subject to appeal to the Ombudsman.

In order to test all information contained in submissions as fully as possible in a transparent manner, the Commission discourages requests for non-disclosure of submissions, in whole or in part.