Orion gears for increased EV uptake

Electricity distribution company Orion has reported a year of solid financial performance while building extra resilience into its network in its newly released annual result.

The company announced a $33 million profit after tax for the year to March 31, 2022 – the same as the previous year’s result.

Orion Group chief executive Nigel Barbour says the company is preparing for increased take-up of EVs and businesses switching to electricity to power process heat.

“With increased electrification, demand for power will only increase over time, and we are starting to prepare for that.”

Orion delivered $31m in dividends to community shareholders the Christchurch City Council through Christchurch City Holding Limited, and the Selwyn District Council, $1m more than FY21.

Orion’s network capital expenditure increased by 10% to $84m – $8m higher than the previous year, as it undertook significant projects to increase its network resilience.

Addressing climate change impacts has become a priority for the company.

Last year’s volatile weather conditions meant Orion’s average number of minutes of power outages per customer rose by 21 minutes to 78 minutes in FY22.

“Last year we had three big storms and a flooding event in our region which caused long power outages for a number of our rural customers,” Barbour explains.

“We are beginning to see real impacts from climate change and are investing in refurbishing lines in rural areas vulnerable to weather events.

“We have just completed major refurbishment of the 115 power poles and lines in to Akaroa, and our lines around Sheffield will be next.”

About 20% ($90m) of Orion’s network capital expenditure for the next 10 years is devoted to refurbishing lines and installing sophisticated switching to withstand the growing volatility in weather patterns, and be more resilient, Barbour adds.

“We are also being more targeted with our tree management programme in high-risk rural areas.

“Trees colliding with our lines in storms were responsible for around 80% of the power outages in last year’s weather events.”

Click here for Orion’s annual report 2022.