The Commerce Commission has today launched a new online data visualisation tool to make information about the performance of the country’s 29 electricity lines companies more accessible.

The tool uses Tableau data visualisation software to present information on each lines company’s revenue, profitability, capital and operating expenditure, and network reliability, including the duration and frequency of power outages. The tool presents data that the regulated lines companies have been required to disclose over the past 5 years.

Commission Deputy Chair Sue Begg said the release of the tool builds on the Commission’s decision in June this year to publish annual one-page summaries of each company’s performance.

“This project aims to make the performance of electricity lines companies more easily understandable. By shining a light on their performance we hope to provide them with greater incentives to improve their performance for the long-term benefits of their customers, ”Ms Begg said.

“We welcome feedback on the usefulness of the tool including its content, presentation, usability and functionality.

We plan to build on it over time, by adding more data on asset condition, as well as exploring ways to allow easier comparisons between lines companies.”

Feedback on the tool can be provided by email to regulation.branch@comcom.govt.nz.

The tool can be viewed here.

Background

Regulation of electricity lines companies

As the economic regulator of electricity lines companies in New Zealand, the Commission is responsible for:
*    setting price-quality paths that limit revenues of the 17 distributors subject to price-quality regulation
*    setting requirements for the 29 distributors to disclose information about their performance
*    publishing summary and analysis of that information to promote a greater understanding of the performance of distributors.

We require the 29 lines companies to publicly disclose a range of information, such as asset management plans, pricing methodologies and financial and network data.

The data visualisation tool uses some of the information disclosed over the past 5 years. Most of the data used has either been audited and/or certified by the directors of the businesses. The Commission cannot guarantee that there are no errors in the data provided.

Lines companies are responsible for managing their own networks. This tool is part of the Commission’s wider programme of performance analysis, which is intended to shed light on the decisions lines companies make in managing their networks and the consequences of those decisions.

More information on our role in the electricity sector is available on our website.