Creating a new energy future – a bold vision
We are continuing to transform our electricity
“We take into consideration the increased inconvenience of temporary power outages to customers who may suddenly find themselves trying to work and school their children from home.
network through digitalisation to meet the needs of the future.
Evolving for the future While we continue to invest in improving network availability, we are also continuing to transform our electricity network through a combination of new engineering solutions and digitalisation to meet the needs of the future. Our ongoing Smart EV Charging trial (page 24) has demonstrated how optimising existing infrastructure using new technology can reduce the cost of EV uptake while securing reliable charging. Our programme to implement an Advanced Distribution Management System is progressing and is an important component of improved optionality, network resilience, flexibility and innovation. We have implemented a new Default Distributor Agreement, imposed by the Electricity Authority, with all electricity retailers who use our network, which we hope will provide us better access to electricity consumption data from customer smart meters. This is an important step towards ongoing digitalisation as it improves our visibility
planned. We take into consideration the increased inconvenience of temporary power outages to customers who may suddenly find themselves trying to work and school their children from home. This work has been informed by data that shows, compared with 2019, customers are less accepting of planned outages occurring on a weekday afternoon. We consider this to be a sign of changing customer preferences as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns requiring more people to be at home during the day, as well as reflecting the increasing criticality of electricity supply to daily life. Working together for Auckland We have worked collaboratively with a number of other Auckland agencies this year to develop innovative arrangements that benefit the city. Through a new Electricity Resilience Targeted Rate, adopted by Auckland Council in its 10-year Budget 2021-2031, there will be an enhanced maintenance programme for existing street trees owned by the council, improving power supply security and public safety around power lines, while public tree planting, in line with the council’s Urban Ngahere (Forest) strategy, will also be boosted. We have also developed operational processes with Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency that enable our first responder Field Service Providers to use bus lanes and priority access motorway on-ramps. We are still working towards the ability to use flashing lights to help designate our first responders as emergency vehicles. These provisions enable faster access to emergency sites involving electricity assets, such as car crashes with power poles. We continue to engage with large customers and developers making plans for Auckland, whether expanding their existing operations, or considering
of network performance at the customer end, and will help our ability to plan and innovate to meet future needs. The insights we gain from our data analytics includes modelling that combines all Vector customer and energy information with wider data sources, such as building characteristics and socioeconomics. This continues to set us apart from other electricity distributors through facilitating a bottom-up view of network planning that starts with the customer. This approach is strongly aligned with our Symphony strategy to put the customer at the centre of the energy system, and provides us a granular view of changing energy consumption patterns, and new technology adoption. We take our responsibilities around management, privacy and security of all data seriously, and our commitment remains firm as our industry evolves. We are focused on ensuring we have the right security and protections in place to make sure that, as custodians of the data, we look after it in accordance with our privacy obligations.
Gas Infrastructure Future Working Group Vector is a member of the Gas Infrastructure Future Working Group, established in May 2021, to offer constructive input to the Government’s response to the Climate Change Commission’s advice in relation to the future of gas in New Zealand. The working group comprises Vector, PowerCo and Firstgas, with regulators and other parties as observers. The working group recognises that New Zealand currently does not have a coordinated plan or planning process to address the consumer effects and complexities of significantly reducing or transitioning away from natural gas if the decision is made that piped natural gas should be a much smaller part of the energy mix or removed from the energy mix altogether. The working group is undertaking research to better understand the problem and potential solutions by assessing the policy, practical and stakeholder implications if gas was phased out under a wind-down scenario, and the feasibility of incorporating green gas (such as biogas or hydrogen gas) under a repurposing scenario. The working group intends to provide a findings report that draws out insights from the research and makes recommendations to the Government on policy decisions that may affect the future of gas in New Zealand.
moving to the region to ensure their access to safe, reliable and secure infrastructure.
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