Aurora Energy Placed ‘Top of Pricing Class’

In summarising this year’s review, the Electricity Authority noted that Aurora Energy and second-placed Wellington Electricity had demonstrated leading practice in a number of areas and had significantly improved from last year.

The annual review by the Electricity Authority is designed to encourage and monitor progress toward more efficient pricing, which is important because it benefits customers in the long-term by allowing them to make efficient choices about how they use the electricity network and make energy-related investments like solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles.

Following public feedback last year, Aurora Energy has reviewed its approach to regional cost allocation and has developed a pricing strategy and roadmap for the future.  The company will be publicly consulting before the end of the year with the goal of seeking feedback on these important documents. Aurora Energy also wants to help customers understand more clearly how pricing works and ways they may be able to reduce their bills through behaviour change and personal choice.

Alec Findlater, General Manager Regulatory and Commercial at Aurora Energy, will lead this work across the Otago region and was eager to demystify pricing for the everyday person.

“We appreciate that electricity pricing can be complex and there are multiple parties involved. We’re really keen to ensure that our pricing information is accessible, clear and understandable by all of our customers, and we will be consulting with the community on aspects of our pricing methodology and pricing strategy later this year”, he said.

Chief Executive of Aurora Energy Dr Richard Fletcher said the result was a great testament to the Aurora Energy team’s dedication to improving pricing efficiency.

“Our roadmap explains how we plan to evolve our regional pricing over the next few years to keep pace with our customers’ changing electricity use,” he said.

“Along with the roadmap, our pricing methodology and pricing strategy set a clear vision and pathway toward more efficient pricing, commencing from 2023. They also align with the Electricity Authority’s pricing principles” Dr Fletcher said.

He then went on to add that efficient pricing would be critical for a transition to a low carbon future that is affordable for customers.

The scorecards and summary papers are available from the Electricity Authority’s website

ENDS