37070 (2025). Scott Willis to the Minister for Energy

37070 (2025). Scott Willis to the Minister for Energy: How many, if any, investigations into breaches of the Electricity Industry Participation Code were there in the most recent year that data was available, and how does this compare with the previous five years?

Hon Simon Watts: "I am advised that the Electricity Authority’s takes enforcement action for breaches of the Code in accordance with the process in the Electricity Industry (Enforcement) Regulations 2010 and the approach in its Compliance Strategy. The Electricity Authority first undertakes a preliminary assessment of reported breaches, which involves initial investigation of facts and an understanding of the circumstances of the breach. As appropriate, the focus may be on education or voluntary compliance or for more serious breaches, remediation of the breach or the issue of a warning letter Most breach reports are dealt with at this early stage and then closed under regulation 11 of the Regulations. For some more serious cases the Electricity Authority may decide to initiate an investigation by appointing an investigator under regulation 12 of the Regulations. The Regulations require the investigator to follow specific steps and to present a recommendation on the outcome of the investigation and settlement process, which may include a recommendation for the case to be referred to the Ruling Panel. Please see: • table one for total number of cases closed (preliminary assessments and investigations initiated under regulation 12) in the last six financial years • table two for the number of investigations initiated under regulation 12 closed in the last six financial year. " Table one: Total cases closed preliminary assessments and investigations by financial year Financial year Number of cases closed 2019-2020 54 2020-2021 106 2021-2022 125 2022-2023 166 2023-2024 68 2024-2025 144 Table two: Total investigations closed by financial year Financial year Number of investigations closed 2019-2020 5 2020-2021 16 2021-2022 9 2022-2023 9 2023-2024 4 2024-2025 2