Creating a new energy future – a bold vision
“It is in our interest as a company to lead the transformation of the energy sector and to provide our stakeholders with the information that serves their long-term interests.
the context of enabling electrification to lower our carbon emissions. At a consumer level, our ownership model, being majority-owned by Entrust, ensures our incentives are aligned to deliver for our customers and shareholders and places our focus on getting the energy transition right. We do not seek to build our way to electrification, since that would be unaffordable for our customers. Instead, we seek to optimise the use of our existing infrastructure through digital solutions, and build where we need to. Our Symphony strategy aims to find solutions to deliver affordable, reliable and clean energy. Our innovations in data analytics, enabling distributed energy solutions for homes and businesses, such as solar, batteries, and electric vehicle (EV) charging, and the digitalisation of the electricity network are designed to deliver value aligned with this strategy. Evolving our thinking on climate risk and opportunity We are evolving our thinking on climate risk and opportunity as we prepare ourselves and others for the opportunities a decarbonised future will bring. Vector has adopted a science- based target for our own emissions reduction plans, which complements our earlier commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. We are committed to supporting decarbonisation in New Zealand, through what we call our carbon ‘handprint’, which is how we enable others to reduce their carbon footprint. Our Smart EV Charging trial in Auckland is an example of our handprint in action (page 24). Smart solutions like this would enable car owners to switch to EVs knowing they will be able to charge them reliably and keep power affordable for all. Climate-related financial disclosures New Zealand is the first country to enshrine a Task Force on Climate- related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
reporting obligation on major private sector entities. While that reporting will not become mandatory until 2024, we are embarking on this journey in advance of that deadline. Our reasoning is simple: it is in our interest to lead the transformation of the energy sector and to provide our stakeholders with the information that serves their long- term interests. We are developing, for the first time, our responses in relation to recommendations from the TCFD. Our TCFD report will show that climate change brings both risks and opportunities for Vector, and that with our diverse portfolio of energy solutions businesses, we are well positioned to embrace the significant opportunities presented by the energy transition. We are also able to accelerate the energy transition for the New Zealand economy. We intend to publish our first TCFD report soon. Cyber security in the context of ‘Crimeware-as-a-Service’ Perpetrators of cyber threats have vastly increased their sophistication in recent years, to the point where, in a mirror of our modern, global economy, the cybercrime economy has seen a decisive shift towards a ‘Crimeware-as-a- Service’ model. At the same time, digital platforms that reduce cost, and improve efficiency and effectiveness, continue to become increasingly important. We continue to increase our cyber security capabilities and have several key partnerships in place with global leaders in cyber security. While building this capability to protect our own business, we are creating tools that can be used by other organisations in New Zealand via VTS. As the barriers to conducting cybercrime continue to lower, we have seen a number of large-scale, severe, well- publicised security events. We are also seeing increasing criticality for electricity distribution, particularly in the context of electrification. Against this context, we are maintaining significant investment
Vector has long embraced this future and our role in bringing it about, in the countries we already operate in and beyond. Our Symphony strategy unites our teams on a clear path into the future and directs our activity, often in ways that put our people at the forefront of emerging technology and new solutions. One clear example from the past twelve months is our work to demonstrate the potential for smart, algorithmically controlled, electric vehicle (EV) charging technology to enable lower transport emissions and more efficient capital investment in the infrastructure needed to support it (page 24). Another is our work with leading global companies, such as Amazon Web Services, to develop new products and services, such as the New Energy Platform (page 21). We are proud of the opportunities Vector provides for our people to contribute meaningfully Alongside decarbonisation, long- term energy affordability continues to be central to our strategy and our ownership model. Earlier this year we saw the vulnerability of our current system to ‘dry year’ risk, where some businesses faced high electricity prices. The importance of energy affordability is set to become even more significant in to a low-carbon future. Energy affordability
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