EA Networks chief executive Roger Sutton said some big players were talking about putting solar farms on to the network.
The scale of those farms was pretty big, he said.
One company already had a consent to put just over 50MW of solar on land near Lauriston.
Speaking to Ashburton district councillors recently, Mr Sutton said the solar numbers being discussed were significant and EA Networks was keen to make it easier for companies to build and connect here.
"We believe it is a good thing that will lead to lower electricity prices for our customers."
For the district to be entirely self-sufficient with solar there needed to be about 300MW generated during the day and then some energy taken from the grid at night.
Infrastructure for 300MW would take up about 300ha of land, an area a bit bigger than a typical Mid Canterbury farm, he said.
Further down the line EA Networks was keen to bring solar farms together with some customers on the network.
He said dairy farms, for example, were well matched with solar because they used more power in the summer for irrigation and less in winter, which matched with solar output.
"The logical thing is to bring the parties together to do some sort of deal," he said.
At present solar power supplies less than 1% of New Zealand’s energy, but forecasts are that in 15 years time it will supply 15%-20%.
