Aurora Energy customers are likely to be paying higher prices from 2021 so the company can pay for much-needed upgrades of its ageing network.
The lines company, which covers Dunedin, Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes area, will seek approval to its line charges in April 2021.
In its annual report, Aurora said to it planned to apply to the Commerce Commission in May 2020 for a customised price path (CPP) which would allow it to increase its line charges.
The commission regulates prices electricity transmission companies such as Aurora can charge, but those companies can seek to customise their own prices to fund unexpected needs, such as lines company Orion after the Christchurch earthquakes.
Aurora will use to extra capital to fund a significant increase in spending to upgrade its ageing infrastructure.
The company plans to spend $721 million on network renewals during the next 10 years.
An Aurora spokesman said the company would engage with its customers about the plans and had already set up a series of customer panels in each of its service regions.
As part of the CPP application, the company would consult customers on its proposed investment plans, which included what it could mean for future network charges.
In the past 18 months, the company had replaced or reinforced about 5000 or 9.3% of the 54,400 poles on its network.
The lines company has repeatedly declined to say how many potentially dangerous poles remain in its 54,000 pole until an independent engineering review on its network was completed later this year.
