Exemptions granted for innovation trial

The Electricity Authority has granted exemptions to the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 to further enable an energy sharing trial on selected Kāinga Ora homes in the Wellington region.

The renewable energy industry is evolving quickly and regulation needs to keep pace to enable the benefits of technologies such as solar. Alternatives to the existing single buyer and seller model will be needed as consumers look to contract with potentially more than one retailer.

This energy sharing trial is an opportunity to assess and learn more about energy sharing using multiple trading relationships.

Regulatory exemptions from clauses in the Code have been approved by the Electricity Authority for the electricity industry participants involved in the trial. This will allow the import and export registers at a house or a building to be split and contracted out to two different retailers.

Using a multiple trading relationships model means Kāinga Ora customers can continue using their choice of retailer for their electricity supply and any excess solar electricity is traded by a retailer on behalf of Kāinga Ora.

The exemptions have been granted to retailer Paua to the People, and metering equipment provider Bluecurrent (previously Vector Metering) to provide these services. They join Wellington Electricity Lines Limited, as the distributor, and Intellihub Limited, as another metering equipment provider, to form a multiple trading model for the trial.

Over the next few years the trial will evaluate how surplus solar energy generated from some Kāinga Ora homes can be used to benefit a broader customer base, particularly those experiencing energy hardship.

For Kāinga Ora, the trial will seek to make better use of surplus solar energy generated on its homes, while the Electricity Authority will gather information on how this model works and if it can provide an enduring solution.

The trial will run for up to four years with regular monitoring from the Electricity Authority. The first five homes are planned to “go-live” in April 2024, with the remaining homes to go live shortly after.

See the Gazette notices:

• Electricity Industry (Exemption 340 (Bluecurrent Assets NZ Limited)) Exemption Notice 2024
• Electricity Industry (Exemption 343 (Paua to the People Limited)) Exemption Notice 2024