Under section 11 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010 (“Act”), the Electricity Authority (“Authority”) gives the following notice.

Notice

1. Title and commencement—(1) This notice is the Electricity Industry (Exemption No. 281 (Mercury NZ Limited)) Exemption Notice 2019.
   (2) This notice comes into force on the day after the date it is notified in the New Zealand Gazette.
2. Exemption—(1) Mercury NZ Limited (“Mercury”) is exempted from the obligation to arrange a distributor audit under clause 11.10 of the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 (“Code”).
   (2) This exemption applies only in respect of the grid exit point (GXP) at Atiamuri (ATI2201 MRPL GN).
3. Term—This exemption expires on 16 August 2029.
4. Reasons for granting the exemption—The reasons for granting this exemption are it will:
   1. reduce Mercury’s costs to provide a back-up electricity supply to consumers on The Lines Company Limited (Lines Company) network and the Unison Networks Limited (Unison) network, in the event of a network supply outage;
   2. be a temporary measure while the Authority investigates whether to amend the Code and, if a Code amendment does not proceed, the exemption will still be required as there is no benefit in Mercury undergoing distributor audits;
   3. not negatively impact other consumers, participants, or service providers; and
   4. meet the requirements in section 11(2) of the Act.

Dated at Wellington this 7th day of August 2019.

For and on behalf of the Electricity Authority:
SUSAN PATERSON, onzm, Member, Electricity Authority.