ComCom shines light on electricity distribution AMP reporting

The Commerce Commission is encouraging electricity distribution businesses (EDBs) to continue to improve their annual asset management plans (AMPs) to better explain them to customers, including EV owners using the supply.

In its Reporting of Asset Management Practices paper, the commission presents a targeted review of five key areas of EDBs’ asset management practices that have particular influence on outcomes for electricity consumers.

Deputy chair Sue Begg says the commission’s analysis is designed to encourage EDBs to acknowledge and explain adverse trends in asset performance and to detail the mitigating actions being taken as part of their AMP disclosures.

“Our window into an EDB’s asset management practices is through their asset management plan,” she says.

“AMPs are an important source of information to help customers and a wide range of other stakeholders understand and assess EDB performance and asset management processes.”

The commission uses information contained in AMPs in setting price-quality paths, undertaking investigations of non-compliance with quality standards, performing and publishing summary and analysis of asset management practices, and to inform its other programmes of work.

Begg says the report looks to encourage EDBs to improve their asset management reporting by highlighting examples of asset management reporting and practices that they may want to consider implementing in their own AMPs.

Under Part 4 of the Commerce Act 1986, the commission sets requirements for EDBs to publicly disclose information relevant to their performance – called ‘information disclosure requirements’.

A key component of the current information disclosure requirements relates to EDBs’ asset management.

Under the current requirements, each year all 29 EDBs must complete and publicly disclose an AMP (or an AMP update), which provides detailed information regarding how the EDB plans to manage its assets.