Auckland High Court hits Vector with nearly $1.2m penalty for excessive power outages

The High Court in Auckland ordered the penalty for excessive power outages between 2017 and 2020. Photo / Nick Reed

Auckland High Court has hit power company Vector with more than $1 million in penalties for breaches of network quality standards leading to excessive power outages from 2017 to 2020.

The $1,158,400 penalty from the High Court was jointly recommended by the Commerce Commission and Vector.

The penalty was discounted 36 per cent for mitigating factors including Vector’s co-operation with the Commission’s investigation.

The Commerce Commission said the penalty and extent of outages were the biggest in 2018 with lower penalties for 2019 and 2020. The Commerce Commission said the majority of Vector’s remedial steps took place in this period.

Justice Tahana Kiri said in the High Court decision: “The issue with Vector’s conduct is that it could have acted faster than it did in addressing the issues that gave rise to the contraventions.”

The Commerce Commission filed civil proceedings against the Auckland electricity lines company last year for breaches of network quality standards.

The lines company admitted it had breached quality standards for each year from 2017 to 2020.

Associate commissioner Vhari McWha of the Commerce Commission said Vector had taken measures to address its previous non-compliance with the quality standards, but failed to prevent some breaches between 2017 to 2020.

“Given the impact electricity outages can have on consumers and businesses – from loss of perishable items, heating and hot water through to staff downtime and loss of revenue – it is crucial that lines companies have the systems in place to identify and manage the risks present in their networks,” McWha said.

Vector breached its quality standards previously in 2015 and 2016 which led to a $3,575,000 penalty.

The Commerce Commission today said several electricity lines companies have received warnings or signed settlement agreements for breaching their price-quality paths.

The maximum penalty that can be imposed on an electricity lines business for breaching its price-quality path is $5m per act or omission with any penalty payable to the Crown.