A perceived imbalance in benefits may have been behind a proposed partnership between Aurora Energy and another South Island firm getting dropped, it has emerged.

There was too little in it for Dunedin-based Aurora, its governors decided.

Aurora and Timaru-based Alpine Energy announced late last year they were looking to combine some operations to achieve greater efficiency, scale and standardisation.

In May, they said in a joint statement both organisations concluded the integration model did not deliver sufficiently compelling long-term consumer benefits to justify the cost, complexity and risk involved.

The issue was raised again this week at Thursday’s Dunedin City Council finance and performance committee meeting during the latest update from Dunedin City Holdings Ltd (DCHL) about council companies, including Aurora.

DCHL chairman Tim Loan said the board had gone into the process with “eyes wide open”, exploring back-office functions and shared services.

The conclusion was “virtually all of the benefits would be to Alpine” and little benefit would come to Aurora, he said.

Mr Loan said the investigation was robust, but ended with a call not to proceed further.

In December last year, the two companies entered into a heads of agreement and their boards established a steering group to recommend how operations might be integrated.

Their joint statement in May said the work undertaken had provided valuable insights into future operating models, systems, capability and scale opportunities in the electricity distribution sector.