Trustpower says the new user-pays model to allocate costs doesn't establish clear benefits. Photo / 123RF
Trustpower will appeal the Electricity Authority's decision to replace the transmission pricing guidelines, saying the new user-pays model to allocate costs doesn't establish clear benefits.
The electricity generator and retailer will seek a judicial review in the High Court of last month's decision that changes the way Transpower charges for
access to the national grid to a user-pays model from the current one-size-fits-all regime. That shift will largely benefit South Island generators and users who've essentially subsidised infrastructure built for their North Island counterparts.
Trustpower said the changes are a fundamental and unjustified change to transmission pricing and will affect the entire economy.
"Fundamental changes need to be rigorously assessed to ensure that the changes are well justified and will produce real benefits for customers," Trustpower chair Paul Ridley-Smith said in a statement.
"The expert advice we have received suggests the analysis undertaken by the EA, particularly in relation to the costs and benefits of its proposal, does not establish these clear benefits.
