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Model Retail Contract Project
July 2003 - May 2004
Context
The project team was established
by the electricity industry in response to a Government
Policy Statement (GPS) of February 2002.
The GPS stated that then proposed Electricity Governance
Board should draw up a model contract for domestic consumers,
in consultation with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and
consumer representatives.
Objective
To develop fair and efficient
model retail contracts for domestic electricity consumers
Team members
The project team comprised
consumer, retailer and distributor representatives, and
an independent chair. The members
were:
Tony Baldwin, Independent
Chair
Bill Boyd (then Ian Burgess), Contact Energy
Clive Bull, Vector
Graham Pinnell (then Paul Doocey,) Consumer representatives
Josephine Bartley, Min. Consumer Affairs
Mel Orange, Meridian Energy
Peter Rutledge, Consumer representatives
Scott Harnett, Trustpower
Steve Rawson, Mighty River Power
Framework
The
project team agreed on the following principles to guide
its work:
-
Meet consumers'
requirements for electricity in a manner that is least
cost to the economy as a whole and is consistent with
sustainable development, as set out in the GPS
-
Specify the rights
and obligations of the contracting parties, and the means
by which these may be changed over time, in plain English
-
Ensure that the
model retail contract encourages innovation and competition
in the retail electricity market
-
Incorporate features
and obligations based on cost/benefit analysis
-
Take into consideration
other model agreements and codes of practice that have
been developed for use within the electricity industry
The
project team also took into account:
-
Domestic retail
contracts already in use by electricity retailers around
the country
-
The model distribution
contract developed by the Model Distribution Arrangement
Project (MDAP) in 2003
-
The Electricity
Complaints Commission's Code of Practice, and review of
the code
-
Model contracts
developed in some Australian states
Results
The team
developed two draft model retail contracts:
-
One for interposed
arrangements, where the lines company contracts with the
retailer, and the retailer contracts with the consumer
-
Another for conveyance
arrangements, where the lines company contracts directly
with the consumer
A copy
of these draft contracts can be read below.
Transfer to Electricity
Commission
In September 2003, the Government
issued a revised draft Government Policy Statement, which
passed responsibility for preparing the Model Retail Contract
to the Electricity Commission. In May 2004, the project
team's draft model contracts were transferred to the Commission,
which formed an advisory group to review the team's proposals.
Publications
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27 August 2003