by Chris Hargreaves | May 21, 2023 | News, Press Release
Electricity transmission pricing hike delivers nasty jolt
Changes to national grid operator Transpower’s transmission charges took effect in April – and as with most things in life, there are winners and losers.The updated transmission pricing methodology (known as TPM) significantly differs from previous years, and has delivered a mixed bag of rises and cuts for domestic and industrial users.
State owned enterprise, Transpower, has been allowed to recover $830 million by the Commerce Commission for running the network and the increased costs are now being passed on to end users.
Changes to charging methodology
Transpower Head of Grid Pricing Rebecca Osborne said the Electricity Authority has designed the new methodology to more closely reflect the costs and expected benefits of electricity transported across Transpower’s 12,000 kilometres of transmission lines.
There should be no surprises across the electricity industry about the new transmission charges, she said.
“We’ve consulted with customers along the way and provided information as the elements have developed, including updating our indicative prices… and providing indicative rates information in early November.”
“Total transmission revenue, as set by the Commerce Commission, remains the same, but how it is distributed among Transpower customers has changed.”
Encourage renewable generation
The Authority expects the new approach to transmission charges to encourage investment in renewable generation and electrification of industrial processes.
According to Transpower, the main change in the new transmission pricing is a move to a benefit-based approach where customers pay in proportion to the benefit they are expected to receive from some historic and all future transmission investments.
The previous methodology spread the cost of the HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) link connecting the two main islands across South Island generators and spread the cost of all other interconnection assets across local lines companies and major industrial users.
Some Northland, East & West Coast customers hit hardest
In general, this means cost increases for local lines companies and some of the largest industrial customers in the north of the country because they are further away from where the bulk of generation is located in the South Island.
It also means North Island generators will begin contributing to the cost of the interconnected transmission assets and South Island generators will contribute less.
Consumers in Northland, the east coast of the North Island, and the West Coast have faced the biggest hikes, while Wellington and some South Island areas have seen prices fall.
The final amount that consumers pay for their transmission charges is ultimately decided by local lines companies, these charges typically make up between 8 and 10 percent of power bills.
Big power users such as the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter have seen an almost $10m price cut, while NZ Steel mill at Glenbrook faces an $11m increase.
Earlier in the year the Electricity Authority calculated movements would generally be small.
Those most affected may take issue with this. Indeed, Buller Electricity filed for a judicial review after being told its transmission charges would rise by 427 percent.
by Chris Hargreaves | Apr 5, 2023 | News, Panoramic Power
Ever had sky high utility bills at your investment or commercial property that you can’t explain? Or are you looking for an energy solution that provides an accurate breakdown of tenant consumption so that you can bill by usage rather than square metre?
Meet Panoramic Power!
It’s predictable, reliable, never sweeps costs under the carpet and hates waste. It’s always fair, makes everyone pay their way and works on facts rather than assumptions.
Total Utilities has been leveraging its power as part of its Total Tenant Metering Solution – to break down utility billing for clients to a granular level. It enables us to pinpoint any potential cost savings and sustainability gains through efficient power use, as well as detect any power faults or maintenance issues that could be costing you dearly in your common areas.
Panoramic Power, combined with our knowledge and expertise in analysing data, gives you the ability to manage your energy consumption right down to device level across your entire property.
It also enables you to avoid the inconvenience of regular visits from the meter reader! Whether you’re a landlord, property manager or tenant, this could be the perfect billing solution! Read on to get to know Panoramic Power better…
Panoramic Power
Occupation: Energy Insights tool – working as part of Total Utilities’ Tenant Metering Solution.
Relationships: In an exclusive relationship with Total Utilities as part of Centrica’s ‘Energy Insights’ package.
About Panoramic Power: A wireless sensor technology that transmits data from all your energy-using equipment and devices in real-time to a cloud-based analytics platform called PowerRadar. It can be used as part of Total Utilities’ tenant metering solution to give full visibility into your energy usage.
Designed for simple, quick, non-intrusive installation with minimal business disruption. Requires no maintenance and is a revolution in energy management.
Can provide detailed insights into how, why and where energy is being used within your property or common areas and where it’s being wasted.
Collects detailed utility usage information, enabling Total Utilities to analyse its data and help landlords bill tenants fairly based on individual consumption.
Not only enables property owners to charge residents fairly and accurately for the amount of energy consumed during a billing period, but also provides important feedback on energy consumption to encourage behavioural change.
Promotes energy conservation and savings.
Best qualities:
- Gifted in accurately measuring and collecting data.
- Great with numbers.
- Passion for measuring and conserving energy for a cleaner, greener planet.
- Extremely low maintenance.
- Always provides useful insights in real time.
- Hates inefficiencies and energy wastage.
- Enables landlords, property managers and tenants to save energy and money.
Bad habits: None. Excellent credit history. Likes to keep things clean and green.
Ready to meet?: If Panoramic Power sounds like your type of Energy Insights tool, contact Total Utilities and we can hook you up with our Total Tenant Metering Solution.
Keen to find out more before committing?: Panoramic Power and Centrica Energy Insights come with their own Total Utilities Centre of Energy Excellence Brochure. (Click here)
by Chris Hargreaves | Feb 28, 2023 | News, Waste
by Chris Hargreaves | Jan 24, 2023 | Earth Day, News
Shop around early for new energy contracts is our advice to customers seeking to avoid the risk of skyrocketing energy prices this winter.
Our warning comes hot on the heels of Transpower cautioning that the Electricity Authority’s recommended measures to ensure the security of electricity supply for this coming winter are insufficient, and that urgent action is now needed to prepare for winter demand.
The Gas Industry Company is also ringing the alarm bells saying, “To avoid the situation where some customers are coming to market at times of tightness across the energy sector, we advise industrial and commercial gas customers with upcoming contract renewal to ‘go to market’ for supply well in advance of the contract expiring. It is our view that going to market early will reduce the exposure risk associated with low hydro inflows impacting on gas supply in Q2, 2023.”
Decreasing generation, rising prices
So how and why has this situation arisen? Well, it’s been a long time in the making with NZ’s operational generation capacity reducing since 2010, as thermal base load generators have closed and not been replaced.
New generation that has come on stream since 2010 is mostly intermittent wind generation that is reliant upon the caprice of mother nature. Consider the fact that on an annual basis, NZ wind farms generate at an average of 40% capacity – meaning replacing baseload thermal capacity with like for like wind capacity results in an average 60% shortfall.


The early bird catches the worm…
With all indications pointing towards winter shortage and increasing price volatility, we encourage our clients to review the market well in advance of energy contracts expiring. This allows time to shop around and find the very best deals for your business while you still have some room to manoeuvre.
Leaving it to the last minute will likely leave your business exposed to the vagaries of the winter market and the possibility of surging prices. You could be forced to accept increasingly unfavourable energy contracts that end up costing your business dearly.
The below tables show how prices have surged over just the last month:

Light at the end of the tunnel?
While the current picture of the energy market seems fairly bleak, there is perhaps some room for optimism with signs pointing to new generation in the pipeline – albeit slowly.
News from Transpower is that NZ could bring on more than 7230 megawatts of new grid-connected generation capacity if the top 51 projects in its new Connections Management Framework are commissioned. Six projects totalling 595MW are currently in delivery phase with 22 projects under investigation.
A Transpower spokesperson says that the new framework, which went live in November, was developed in response to the sharp increase in grid connection enquiries during the 2021/22 financial year. They say enquiries to connect new generation projects to the grid have increased from around five per year, to 124 in FY22.
The new framework has been encouragingly described by Helios Managing Director Jeff Schlichting as ‘robust’ and he believes it should work well to ensure the timely development of renewable energy projects needed to help the country decarbonise and meet its climate change commitments.
Here’s hoping that Jeff’s got it right and that things are finally starting to move in the right direction. In the meantime it pays to prepare early and hunker down for the winter of energy discontent.
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by Chris Hargreaves | Jan 24, 2023 | News, solar power

As energy prices continue to surge and volatility reigns in the market, could now be the time for your business to bask in the cosmic power of solar?
Take a moment to factor in the potential cost savings, reputational benefits of clean energy, and the carbon savings your business can achieve – and it’s definitely worth taking a look. Or maybe even a second look if you haven’t considered it for a while.
Solar landscape changing
Total Utilities Director Chris Hargreaves said, “The landscape of how a company can integrate solar is changing and there are more options becoming available.
“While we continue to provide solar audits, and can design and install fully customised solar power systems, as well as advise on how to quantify carbon savings – we’ve also developed a hybrid solar option for our clients. This solution is a power procurement option that incorporates buying solar direct from a solar farm.”
Hybrid solar solution
NZ’s first solar farms aren’t expected to start connecting to the grid until somewhere between August or September this year, but Total Utilities’ hybrid plans enable clients to buy direct from a solar farm now using a power purchase agreement. This can then be combined with supply from their traditional energy retailer.
The solar gets supplied to the retailer, for example Mercury or Genesis, who can package it all up together and bill a hybrid price. Using this procurement solution, Total Utilities creates significant cost and carbon savings for our clients.
As Chris explained, “Some of the ten year prices we’re getting from solar generators are 11 cents a kilowatt. When you compare that to what power suppliers are delivering during peak periods – some months it’s close to 30 cents per kilowatt. So you can achieve quite a decent amount of savings with these hybrid plans.”
To simplify things, let’s take a look at three basic models of power procurement:
Here’s the traditional – vanilla if you like – method of power procurement direct from a power supplier AKA Meridian, Mercury et al.

This second model enables you to use your own generated rooftop solar topped up with power purchased from your power company in order to meet your total power demand.

The third, hybrid option means us arranging contracts where clients buy solar direct from solar farms to use in combination with your supplied electricity.

“The beauty of buying solar as a commodity is that even if you relocate your business site, you can still keep buying solar as it’s not tied to your location,” said Chris.
“So buying solar from a farm will be particularly attractive for customers who lease their premises or are likely to move – or for those who just don’t have a particularly feasible site.”
An array of solar services!
Total Utilities also provides solar feasibility audits to help identify whether actually installing solar power could be a good option for you. Our recommendations include a detailed analysis of cost benefits of solar versus implementation costs.
Chris explained that installing a solar array can lead to up to 25 to 40% reduction in energy usage, which results in reduced carbon liability from grid supplied energy. Then there’s the savings of 10 to 30% on total electricity cost – although this varies depending on how much energy is used at night and what the energy costs are for the given site.
This is a big saving when you consider that electricity is likely to be one of the top three expenses a business faces.
Boom time for solar
It appears that after some delay, the solar boom is finally on its way in New Zealand – following in the footsteps of other countries like Australia, where solar has almost 30% market share, and the US, which is aiming to generate 50% of its energy from solar by 2050.
Whether you’re making it or mixing it – solar is shaping up to be the way of the future to save carbon, money and the planet.
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