Electricity Investment Towers About Other Sectors

Electricity Investment Towers About Other Sectors

In releasing the latest version of the Electricity Networks Association’s PowerTracker, the Association’s Chair Ken Sutherland says that a key message is that, despite a slow-down in demand, the electricity sector is the “investment giant” among our key infrastructure providers.

In particular, capital expenditure on providing and delivering electricity exceeded the national spend on roading by about $800 million in 2013-14, and was also well ahead of spending on telecommunications, despite the massive costs associated with the government-subsidised fibre roll-out.

“Electricity distributors spent almost twice as much as Transpower in renewing and extending their networks, with overall distribution expenditure passing $1.2 billion in the past year. This underlines the commitment that the Association’s members have to delivering a modern, reliable power service to customers.”

Ken Sutherland also stressed that the industry is facing a barrage of new business uncertainties and commercial risks. “Despite the surge in population we’ve been seeing, residential electricity demand is falling and new connections have stalled, while overall power consumption seems locked into a new relationship with GDP growth, lagging it rather than keeping to the traditional 1-for-1 growth pattern.

“For a heavily regulated industry, the converging pressures of step change technologies and faltering demand, coming in tandem with localised supply options such as solar panels, pose challenges that were not envisaged when the legislation controlling the industry was put together. It is encouraging that this edition of PowerTracker is still able to highlight the business as usual approach that the industry has maintained through these uncertain times.

“Looking ahead, I’m confident that future PowerTrackers will be able to show the commitment that the industry has to meeting emerging challenges with a mix of technical innovation, collaboration and increased efficiency.”

ends

© Scoop Media