The Commerce Commission (“Commission”), pursuant to section 81 of the Electricity Industry Reform Act 1998 (“EIR Act”), exempts Westpower Limited (“Westpower”) 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 hydro generation plant, located on the Amethyst River
at Harihari, South Westland, through the joint venture proposal outlined in its application for exemption registered by the Commission on 4 August 2006.
The exemption is subject to the following conditions:
(a) The joint venture company and Westpower’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 EIR Act.
(b) Westpower must not be involved directly or indirectly in the selling of electricity to any
end use customer connected to Westpower’s electricity network. This does not preclude the
sale of electricity to an electricity retailer.
(c) This exemption does not extend to engaging in the financial hedging of risks relating to the price of electricity in New Zealand beyond the nameplate generation capacity (6 MW per annum) of the proposed hydro generation plant.
(d) This exemption is specific to the cross-involvements created through Westpower’s involvement in the proposed joint venture. It does not extend to any other interest or existing or future cross-involvement of Westpower.
The Commission may vary or revoke the exemption in accordance with section 81 (5) of the EIR Act.
The exemption takes effect from the date of publication of this notice in the New Zealand Gazette.