The Commerce Commission has today reported that Aurora Energy Limited (Aurora) has complied with all of its price and quality regulatory obligations in year two of its five-year customised price‐quality path (CPP). However, the Commission has some concerns over an increase in unplanned outages impacting consumers.
The Commission has published its second fact sheet on Aurora, providing a snapshot of performance and delivery in the second year of its CPP. Aurora applied for the CPP to address historical underinvestment in its network. In assessing network reliability for the year ended 31 March 2023, Commerce Commission General Manager of Infrastructure Regulation, Andy Burgess, says that despite a strong investment in its network, the average time without electricity experienced by Aurora’s customers due to unplanned outages has increased.
Aurora’s spend for this period was $145.4 million, including $54.6 million towards asset replacement and renewal. Mr Burgess says replacing old and failing assets is a priority under Aurora’s CPP to address safety and reliability issues for its customers.
“While we note the positive action to improve asset health and safety – we are also conscious of the impact outages can have on households, businesses and the wider community who rely on a safe and reliable supply to go about their everyday lives,” says Mr Burgess.
As part of its CPP obligations, Aurora will publish independent expert reports in March this year as part of a mid-CPP review. These will examine Aurora’s progress under the CPP further and make recommendations for improvements.
