All electricity industry participants must register and keep their details up to date.

Who is an industry participant?

There are lots of different participants in the electricity industry – from generators to distributors, line owners, load aggregators, ancillary service agents, metering equipment providers and owners.

See list of industry participants (Section 7 of the Act)

The definition of each industry participant type is broad – you may be a participant without realising it. For example, if you own a rest home or boarding house and provide electricity as part of the service you offer tenants, then you are likely to be an electricity retailer. If you own the wiring between your meters and an apartment/room, then you are likely to be a distributor.

See definitions of industry participants (Section 5 of the Act)

Do all industry participants need to register?

Yes, all industry participants have a statutory obligation to register and keep their details up to date on the Participant register, unless they have an exemption.

See registration and requirement to update information (Section 29 of the Act)

Exemptions:

The following types of participant are not required to register:

• Owners of distributed generation less than 100kW
• Metering equipment owners who own metering equipment at the ICP where they consume electricity unless they have other types of participation that require registration. See Electricity (Exemptions from Registration) Regulations 2022 (SL 2022/340) – New Zealand Legislation

What happens if an industry participant fails to register or supply updated information?

This could be an offence that is liable on conviction to a fine.

See offences relating to registration (Section 31 of the Act)

Contact

Make a suggestion, report an issue or email a question to participantregister@ea.govt.nz