Things you've asked about

The benefits you can expect from our proposed investment approach include sustained levels of safety and reliability, a reduction in the risk of unplanned outages, improved resilience, improved efficiency, and increased network capacity to support future growth.  

Delivering these benefits will cost you, on average, an additional $7.00 to $9.00 per month in distribution lines charges over the five-year customised path period starting 01 April 2027, over and above the increases that would apply under the default price path.

Over the last decade our capital investment has been shaped by the timing and nature of expenditure driven by the earthquake response and recovery, followed by rapid regional growth.  

After the earthquakes, significant investment was required to restore the network and connect new customers. To manage costs for customers, some long-term asset renewal activities were deferred. Following the earthquake recovery our region experienced strong growth, and expenditure was directed toward network expansion rather than addressing these renewal works.  

With the post-earthquake rebuild of the network largely complete, we’re now in a new phase of our asset management lifecycle and we can no longer defer these essential renewal works. It has also become clear that the default price-quality path allowance is not going to be sufficient for us to deliver the level of service that our customers depend on. 

Our analysis and forecasts indicate that it’s in our customers’ long-term interests to invest more now. Deferring this investment would increase the risk of power outages, reduce the reliability of the network, and delay necessary upgrades to meet the needs of our growing community.  

It is critical that we’re ready to meet these challenges head on. Underinvesting risks reducing reliability and resilience, making it more expensive to manage and maintain the network in the longer term. 

Our investment needs cannot be covered by dividends because the gap between forecasted expenditure and regulated revenue significantly exceeds what dividend adjustments could address.   

Orion’s proposed investment approach for a customised price-quality path involves spending approximately $1.73 billion over the five years from 01 April 2027 to 31 March 2032.   

We paid $25 million in dividends last year (FY24). Once distributed to our shareholders - Christchurch City Council (through its subsidiary Christchurch City Holdings Ltd) and Selwyn District Council - we have no control over how the dividend is allocated. The funds are allocated in accordance with their annual and long-term plans, which are developed in consultation with their ratepayers.