1. The Electricity Authority (“Authority”) gives notice of the Electricity Industry Participation Code (Connection Charge Balance Point Principle and Reconciliation) Amendment 2026 (“amendment”), made under section 38 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010 (“Act”) on 26 June 2026.

2. The amendment comes into force on 1 August 2026, except for clause 5 which comes into force on 1 October 2026.

3. The amendment amends Part 6B of the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 to—

1. provide for a new connection charge balance point principle pricing methodology, including the connection charge balance point principle, which is the principle that a distributor’s pricing methodologies should provide that the contribution to shared network costs from new connections is commensurate with the contribution from existing connections;
2. empower the Authority to direct distributors to amend their pricing methodologies to make them consistent with the principle; and
3. align the discount rate calculation used in the connection charge reconciliation required by clause 6B.11 with the most recent available estimate of vanilla WACC determined by the Commerce Commission under its input methodology determination that applies to electricity distribution services.

4. The amendment is secondary legislation for the purpose of the Legislation Act 2019 and is administered by the Authority.

5. A copy of the amendment and the Code is available on the Authority’s website at: https://www.ea.govt.nz/code-and-compliance/the-code-electricity-industry-participation-code-2010/.

6. A copy of the amendment and the Code may also be inspected free of charge or purchased from the Authority, Level 7, Aon Centre, 1 Willis Street, Wellington.

Dated at Wellington this 26th day of June 2026.

ERIK WESTERGAARD, Acting Chair, Electricity Authority.