The Commission has withdrawn the warnings given to Alpine Energy Limited, Dunedin Electricity Ltd, Electricity Invercargill Ltd and The Power Company Ltd concerning attempts to contract out of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.
Late last month the Commerce Commission issues warnings to 29 companies, including these four. The Commission indicated that these companies were at risk of contravening the Fair Trading Act, because the electricity supply contracts offered by them purported to exclude guarantees made available under the Consumer Guarantees Act. The Commission now accepts that these four companies do not have a direct contractual relationship with electricity users and therefore should not have been included among those warned. This is because all four are shareholders in United Electricity Limited, and it is United which contracts with customers.
However, the Commission is still of the opinion that United Electricity Ltd risked breaching the Fair Trading Act.
Media contact Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
