• Background
• Consultation
• Presentation
• Final GUIRP
  

Background

In April 2007 a joint Transpower and Commission working group was set up to prepare a policy document that would:

(a)       improve certainty around the timing of key steps in the grid upgrade approval process;

(b)       improve the timeliness of the grid upgrade approval process;

(c)       improve the predictability of the outcomes from the grid upgrade approval process;

(d)       promote the efficient use of resources, including those of Transpower, the Commission and its consultants, and other stakeholders;

(e)       promote role clarity between Transpower, the Commission and other stakeholders;

(f)        be applicable to, but differentiated between, small, medium, large and amended investments;

(g)       apply to both reliability and economic investments;

(h)       clarify assumptions likely to be common to most proposals; and

(i)        thereby, improve the grid upgrade process going forward.

The purpose of the policy is to promote an effective process for the preparation of investment proposals by Transpower, as part of Transpower’s wider grid planning process, and the review and approval or rejection of those proposals by the Commission.  It provides a framework within which the Commission and Transpower will interact during the process and provides guidance to interested parties in relation to how Transpower and the Commission will interact with them.

A draft Grid Upgrade Investment and Review Policy (GUIRP) was completed in April 2008 which set out the process to be followed by Transpower and the Commission to achieve the above.

The draft GUIRP conformed with the relevant objective in the Government Policy Statement on Electricity Governance (May 2008) which states:

“95. The Commission should make available to Transpower and other stakeholders clear and specific policies and processes relating to how grid upgrade plans in general, and any  particular plan specifically, will be developed, and then reviewed and approved or rejected. These criteria should be clearly explained so that the review process and linkages to other processes such as the statement of opportunities are transparent and can be understood and the analysis can be replicated by stakeholders.”

Consultation

The Commission published the above draft GUIRP  for consultation on 7 April 2008. The Commission was seeking comments on key aspects of the GUIRP and issues where a preferred approach had not been identified. 

Comments were sought by the Commission by midday on Monday 5 May 2008.

• Submissions received
  

Presentation

The Commission also held a presentation on the 28 April 2008 in Wellington to brief interested parties on the document and to assist in the preparation of submissions.

• Agenda pdf [31 KB]
• Presentation by the Commission pdf [150 KB]
• Presentation by Transpower pdf [1622 KB]

Final GUIRP

A final version of the GUIRP document pdf [353 KB] has been completed.  The document has been jointly prepared by Transpower and Commission staff, approved by the Commission and approved for use by Transpower by the Transpower Board.

The consultation process with interested parties and ongoing discussions with Transpower has resulted in a more streamlined and focussed GUIRP.  The Commission thanks those parties who made constructive comments on the draft GUIRP.  A summary of submissions and Commission response pdf [187 KB] has also been published.

The Commission considers that the final GUIRP promotes the objective in the GPS by providing "Transpower and other stakeholders clear and specific policies and processes relating to how grid upgrade plans in general, and any particular plan specifically, will be developed, and then reviewed and approved or rejected".   In addition the GUIRP sets out how "the review process and linkages to other processes such as the statement of opportunities are transparent and can be understood and the analysis can be replicated by stakeholders".  To ensure that the GUIRP continues to promote the GPS objective, and as the GUIRP is an operational document, the Commission will:

• review the GUIRP as necessary to ensure it complies with changes to any relevant legislation; and
• periodically review the GUIRP and make amendments to it as considered appropriate. Consultation with Transpower and interested parties will be carried out in situations where material amendments are being considered.