Grid Development Proposals [Closing date: 2006/02/08 17:00:00 GMT+13]

Posted 22 December 2005

On 31 October 2005, Transpower applied to the Electricity Commission for approval of interim grid expenditure (IGE) for a number of investments designed to improve the transmission grid.  On 16 December 2005, Transpower applied for approval of IGE for two additional investments.  

The Commission can approve such expenditure before it makes final decisions on the Grid Upgrade Plan (GUP), if the expenditure meets certain requirements as set out in rule 16 of section III of part F of the Electricity Governance Rules 2003. 

In its 31 October 2005 application, Transpower grouped the investment proposals (Grid Development Proposals or GDPs) into seven initiatives at a total cost of $96.4 million.  For the purposes of technical analysis, the Commission has treated those investments as nine individual projects.  The 16 December 2005 application is for two projects at a total cost of $33.5 million.

The Commission completed a review of both GDP Applications and on 30 November 2005 and 21 December 2005, the Commission made some indicative decisions in respect of the 31 October 2005 GDP Application and the 16 December 2005 GDP Application, respectively:

Having previously signalled its intention to engage with stakeholders as much as possible within the confines of the transitional provisions contained within rule 16, the Commission has published a paper, setting out its indicative decisions, for consultation, pursuant to rule 16.4.2 of section III of part F.  The Commission will consider the views of submitters before finalising its decision on the GDP Applications.  

• Consultation paper  pdf [338 KB]
• Appendix 3 : 31 October 2005 GDP Application  pdf [512 KB]
• Appendix 4 : 16 December 2005 GDP Application  pdf [178 KB]

The Commission is required to make decisions on the GDP Applications within six weeks of the date of application, or within six weeks of any further information being provided by Transpower.

The Commission invites interested parties to make submissions on this paper, including providing responses to the Commission’s specific questions contained in section E of the paper, before the submission close date of 5pm on 8 February 2006.

Parties intending to make submissions should note that submissions received after this deadline may not be considered due to the short time periods allowed for decision-making under rule 16.

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 do so electronically. Submissions in electronic form should be emailed with “GDP Assessment” 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

Tel: (04) 460 8858
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 electronic acknowledgement of your submission within two business days.

Submissions should be provided in the format shown in section E of the paper.  Your submission is likely to be made available to the general public on the Commission’s website. Submitters should indicate any documents attached, in support of the submission, in a covering letter and clearly indicate any information that is provided to the Commission on a confidential basis. However, submitters should note that the Commission is subject to the Official Information Act 1982.