Parker David: Electricity (Continuance of Supply) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Parker David: Electricity (Continuance of Supply) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 23 September 2008. Volume:650;Page:19073. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 I move  
That the Electricity (Continuance of Supply) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 I will be recommending that the bill be referred to the Commerce Committee for consideration. The bill amends the Electricity Act to provide an ongoing obligation upon electricity distributors to continue to supply electricity to places that were supplied via lines as at 1 April 1993. The obligation can be met by the lines company either via those existing lines or through electricity supplied through alternative means. Section 62 of the current Electricity Act allows electricity lines companies to cut off supply to places they do not want to supply in 2013. 
Nathan Guy 
: We don’t want that. 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: Well that provision was one of the more ridiculous ideologically driven ideas passed by the previous National Government. 
Nathan Guy 
: Well what have you been doing for 9 years? 
Hon DAVID PARKER 
: We have been fixing that and many other mistakes made by National. 
Consumers that may be affected by the expiry of section 62 include farmers small communities tourism businesses and owners of holiday homes located in remote areas. The Labour-led Government shares consumer concerns about the potential loss of supply. We in the Labour Government believe that rural customers deserve and need security of electricity supply. Around 1 percent of consumers could be affected. In response to these concerns and to our own the Government has reviewed section 62. We considered what arrangements should be in place to ensure that affected consumers and communities continue to have access to electricity after 2013. 
Providing an ongoing obligation to continue supply obviously improves certainty of access to electricity supply for those people living in remote areas. The bill provides that the obligation can be met by lines or by electricity supplied by alternative means such as remote area power systems. Allowing these alternatives will facilitate investment in these technologies where it is more cost-effective than lines. Existing arrangements for the quality and reliability of supply will continue to apply to electricity supplied from alternative means. 
Supply can be ceased permanently only with the agreement of every affected consumer or with the agreement of the Minister of Energy. The bill includes requirements for consultation and notification where a distributor proposes a change to alternative supply. The distributor must consult with each affected consumer and provide an assessment of how each consumer’s reasonable needs for electricity will be met. The consumer must then have a reasonable period to comment on a proposal. The distributor must also provide for at least 6 months’ public notification of the proposal. 
To ensure that electricity prices remain affordable for consumers supplied by alternatives to lines the bill introduces a new regulation-making power to regulate for the use of pricing methodologies for electricity supplied by alternatives. The amendments made to the Electricity Act by this bill will improve certainty of electricity supply for affected consumers mainly in more remote rural areas as I have said previously. It will enable distributors and consumers to assess whether there are better ways to meet the need for electricity by using by way of example onsite renewable resources or perhaps by also improving energy efficiency to assist. 
Overall what the bill does is to give consumers in remote rural areas certainty that their electricity will not be cut off in 2013 which could happen under the law at present. I commend this bill to the House.