Recent trends in revenue and demand
Network Tasman’s revenue from distribution line charges has increased over recent years. Revenue from line charges, which made up most of Network Tasman’s revenue, increased by around 15% from 2008 to 2011, over and above inflation. Distribution line charge revenue from residential and smaller commercial customers increased by 9%, from medium-sized customers by 9%, and from large-sized customers decreased 2%. Most of Network Tasman’s revenue is from residential and smaller commercial customers.
The increase in revenue is made up of a combination of rising prices and an increase in demand.
The average price change varied across customer groups:
- The average price per small and medium customer connections increased 5%. The average price per unit of electricity delivered to small- and medium-sized customers increased 8% and 5% respectively.
- The average price per large-sized customer connection increased 5%. The average price per unit of electricity delivered to large-sized customers increased 5%.
Demand on Network Tasman’s network grew modestly. The number of small and medium customer connections grew around 4%. Electricity consumption by small-sized customers was flat, while that of medium-sized customers increased around 5%. The largest five customers decreased electricity consumption around 13%.
Network Tasman is community-owned trust subject to information disclosure and price-quality regulation. It may choose to re-distribute part of its revenue to its consumer-owners or to community projects.
Recent trends in expenditure
Total operating expenditure grew 2% per year over and above inflation. Less than half of total operating expenditure was directly related to the network.
Capital expenditure increased in recent years. This may reflect the beginning of a large project. In 2011 the largest category of capital expenditure was in asset replacement and renewal.
Forecast network operating expenditure is flat for the coming years. Network Tasman forecasts capital expenditure to decrease over the coming years. The level of forecast capital expenditure differs significantly in each forecast round. This may reflect the uncertainty of scheduling projects in future periods, and the opportunity to update forecasts in its Asset Management Plan annually.
Recent trends in service reliability
The average duration of interruptions was above its regulatory limit in every year. The average frequency of interruptions was below the industry average and its regulatory limit in every year.
Full analysis
The full analysis of Network Tasman's performance from 2008 to 2011 can be downloaded below.
All dollar figures in our analysis are adjusted for inflation and expressed in 2011 dollars.
