The Commerce Commission (“Commission”), pursuant
to section 81 of the Electricity Industry Reform Act 1998 (“EIR Act”), exempts Unison Networks Limited (“Unison”) from the application of section 17 of the EIR Act in respect of the “cross-involvement” (as that term is defined in the EIR Act) that would be created through its investment in a wind farm, located in the Maungaruru and Te Waka Ranges, through the joint venture proposal outlined in its application for exemption registered by the Commission on 21 July 2005.
The exemption is subject to the following conditions:
(a) The joint venture company and Unison’s electricity lines business must comply with rules 1 to 6 and
11 to 15 of the Arms Length Rules set out in Schedule 1 of the Electricity Industry Reform Act 1998.
(b) Unison must not be involved directly or indirectly in the retailing of electricity to any customer connected to Unison’s electricity network.
(c) Any generation asset owned by the joint venture must not be connected to electricity lines owned or operated by Unison except to the extent that is necessary in order to connect the generation asset to the national transmission network.
(d) This exemption is specific to the cross-involvements created through Unison’s involvement in the proposed joint venture. It does not extend to
any other interest, or existing or future cross-involvement of Unison.
The Commission may vary or revoke the exemption in accordance with section 81 (5) of the EIR Act.
The temporary exemption takes effect from the date of publication of this notice in the New Zealand Gazette.