Improving visibility of competition in the OTC contract market
Consultation
We are seeking feedback on a proposal to require all retailers (including gentailers) and large industrials (who buy electricity from the clearing manager) to regularly provide the Electricity Authority with their over-the-counter requests for buying contracts (bids) and responses to those requests (offers).
This is intended to improve the transparency of, and competition in, the over-the-counter hedge market to drive greater retail competition, aligned with the findings from the Risk Management Review and recommendations from the Market Development Advisory Group.
Improved retail competition increases downward pressure on electricity prices and provides more choice for consumers.
We propose to use clause 2.16 of the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 to regularly collect information on bids and offers on an ongoing basis. We were previously collecting most of this information via a section 46 notice, which had limited duration (only collected information until the end of 2024).
Our current view is the benefits of increased transparency in the contracts market outweigh the costs.
We welcome feedback on this proposed approach by 5pm, Monday 26 May 2025.
Consultation paper
Make a submission
We welcome submissions via our information provision platform to the questions in Appendix B by 5pm, 26 May 2025.
If you cannot send your submission electronically or would prefer to send a Microsoft Word submission, please contact info@ea.govt.nz to discuss alternative arrangements.
We will publish all submissions. If you consider that we should not publish any part of your submission, please:
- indicate which part should not be published and explain why, and
- provide a version that we can publish (if we agree not to publish your full submission).
All submissions, including any parts that the Authority does not publish, can be requested under the Official Information Act 1982.