More detail needed from lines companies – report

Electricity lines companies need to better explain their risk management planning, a report prepared for the Commerce Commission says.

The Partna Consulting Group report recommends that lines companies provide more detail on their contingency planning to help their stakeholders better understand what to expect should a significant event, such as an earthquake, strike their electricity network.

This could impact on EV charging, for instance.

The commission has published the report assessing how local electricity lines companies are identifying and managing network risks.

It’s part of a programme of work the commission has initiated to assess lines companies’ asset management practices in order to identify and address potential risk areas, disseminate good practice and improve the quality of their disclosures.

Partna reviewed published asset management plans of all 29 local lines companies to assess their risk management practices, contingency and major events planning and their investment associated with network resilience.

It found that while the majority of lines companies say they have risk management policies in place, the level of detail they disclose to the public varies significantly between companies.

The commission says poor management can impose significant costs on consumers through inefficient delivery of services and poor quality outcomes such as increased outages and interruptions.

Visit website

for a report copy and accompanying letter to the sector.