25 AUGUST 2005

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 141

3439

DCA/AIRTRACT/10
DCA/BRANT/01
DCA/CESS172/164
DCA/CESS182/142
DCA/CESS206/144
DCA/ELECT/50
DCA/ELECT/51
DCA/GEN/33A
DCA/HARTZ/149
DCA/McC/148
DCA/PA34/22A
DCA/S-55/01
DCA/SA365/24
DCA/SENS/105

These airworthiness directives shall come into force on 25 August 2005.
Airworthiness directives may be viewed on the CAA web site (www.caa.govt.nz) or at Aviation House, 10 Hutt Road, Petone.
Dated this 23rd day of August 2005.
JOHN D. STANTON, Continuing Airworthiness Specialist.

Electricity Commission

Electricity Act 1992

Notice of Making of a Recommendation and Assessment Concerning the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 – Rule Amendment Proposal No. 79

This notice of a recommendation and assessment concerning the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 ("Rules"), Rule Amendment Proposal No. 79, is issued by the Electricity Commission ("Commission"), established under the Electricity Act 1992 ("Act"), pursuant to section 172E (2) (c) of that Act.

Section 172E (2) (c) provides that, no later than 10 working days after making a recommendation concerning the Rules to the Minister of Energy, the Commission must publicise the recommendation and the assessment completed under section 172F of the Act.

Recommendation

The Commission made a recommendation that the existing Schedule C5 of Part C of the Rules, which contains the procurement plan, be replaced in its entirety with a new Schedule C5 on 19 August 2005.

Recommended Amendments to the Rules

The key changes from the existing Schedule C5 and the one recommended by the Commission are set out below:

(a) Changes to assessment methodology for instantaneous reserve and frequency keeping and to the proposed contracting process that increase the latitude for the parties to negotiate terms and conditions as long as none are inconsistent with the key contracting terms set out in the procurement plan.

(b) Changes to every ancillary service to make provision for the system operator to enter into ancillary service procurement contracts with other providers at any time during the procurement plan period.

(c) A number of the key contracting terms have been amended and some new ones inserted, largely relating to the monitoring and compliance arrangements, including:

(i) the system operator can terminate an ancillary service schedule if an ancillary service agent (ASA) commits a material breach of the contract in relation to that service and such breach, if remediable, is not remedied to the reasonable satisfaction of the system operator within 10 business days of the notice, or such longer period as the system operator may determine;

(ii) the system operator can make a claim that an ASA has failed or is unable to meet a performance requirement in the ancillary service procurement contract (ASPC) or cannot comply with a dispatch instruction. If the claim is accepted (either voluntarily or after dispute resolution), the system operator will not be liable to pay the ASA for the relevant period and the ASA will take remedial action;

(iii) "baseline" tests required for some ancillary services will be carried out by the ASAs at their own expense;

(iv) the system operator may request the ASAs to carry out an "on-demand" test of the equipment used to provide or monitor any ancillary service and/or provide a statement of the capability and operational limitations of the equipment;

(v) the system operator will pay the ASA’s reasonable costs of an "on-demand" test unless the equipment fails the test or the sole reason for the test was to verify the success of any remedial action;

(vi) if any equipment used to provide or monitor an ancillary service (except for non-mandatory frequency keeping or instantaneous reserve) fails to meet any test, the ASAs must re-test the equipment at their own expense until the equipment passes the test, unless otherwise agreed with the system operator, and the ASAs will be deemed incapable of providing the ancillary service until the test is passed;

(vii) the system operator may inspect any equipment used by the ASAs to provide or monitor the ancillary service upon at least five day’s notice of the intention to inspect the equipment but may give less or no notice if the system operator reasonably believes the equipment is being used in a manner inconsistent with the ASPC. The system operator must not interfere unreasonably with the ASA’s business in carrying out such an inspection; and

(viii) the system operator can assign its interest in the ASPC to another party taking over the role of system operator, otherwise assignment by either party must have the consent of the other party.

(d) The frequency of system operator reporting of ancillary service settlement volumes, prices, costs etc, which is currently unspecified is to be carried out monthly.

(e) A number of changes to the performance requirements and technical specifications for various ancillary services;