Upper South Island MCP
Transpower have notified us of their intention to plan a major capex project in the Upper South Island region.
This potential investment need has been identified by Transpower based on its demand forecasts. In order to meet grid reliability standards in the region investment may be required to address forecasted thermal capacity and voltage stability constraints.
On 6 July 2023, Transpower and the Commission agreed to a consultation programme, approval timeframe and approach to considering non-Transpower solutions. As Transpower develops the project, Transpower and the Commission will review the timeframes as necessary.
Following consultation with their stakeholders, Transpower has identified a staged approach as its preferred option. On 25 March 2025, Transpower sent us an updated notice of intention requesting a staged approach to the project.
On 15 December 2025, we published copies of Transpower's proposal documents for the Upper South Island MCP.
On 18 December 2025, we published our Draft decision on Transpower's Upper South Island MCP proposal. These documents can be found under the 'Documents' tab below.
We want to hear from you
We welcome views on our Draft decision on Transpower's Upper South Island MCP. Submissions are due by 5pm Tuesday 17 February 2026, and cross-submissions are due by 5pm Tuesday 3 March 2026.
Submissions can be emailed to infrastructure.regulation@comcom.govt.nz using the subject line 'Submission on Transpower's Upper South Island MCP Draft decision'.
Please provide both a format suitable for word processing (such as a Microsoft Word document), as well as a 'locked' document (such as a PDF) for publication on our website.