1. Introduction
On 7 April 1998, the Government announced a reform package for the electricity industry entitled "A Better Deal For Electricity Consumers". This package built on a decade of measures to promote competition in the generation, distribution and retailing sectors of the electricity industry.
A key part of the reform package was the proposal to split ECNZ into three competing State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The Government appointed the Electricity Reform Transition Unit (ERTU) to design a structure to implement the split and analyse whether its objectives in splitting ECNZ would be achieved. ERTU's Terms of Reference required it to provide interim certification to Government by 1 September on these issues.
Following interim confirmation from ERTU that the ECNZ split:
- was achievable;
- would increase competition between the generators; and
- that each of the three new SOEs would be commercially viable;
the Government decided to proceed to the next stage of the ECNZ split. This involved the establishment of three Interim Development Groups (IDGs) to represent the interests of each of the new SOEs.
On 1 December 1998, ERTU and the IDGs reported to Government on a range of issues including:
- the achievability of the split;
- its impact on the environment;
- its effect on security of supply;
- the commercial viability and the competitiveness of the new SOEs; and
- their proposed establishment plans.
Back to Top