Source: Radio New Zealand
Contact has accepted it breached the code, and potentially faces a penalty of up to $200,000. RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Christchurch City Council says it has been refunded $250,000 after being overcharged for its streetlighting by Contact Energy.
It comes after the Electricity Authority lodged a formal complaint with an independent rulings panel against the power company.
The authority alleges that between early March 2022 and the end of September 2025, Contact failed to maintain an up-to-date distributed unmetered load (DUML) database for the council.
It also failed to take all practicable steps to ensure submission information was complete and accurate.
Contact has accepted it breached the code, and potentially faces a penalty of up to $200,000.
The authority said Contact was responsible for the council’s streetlight database in the period.
It further noted Contact failed to address DUML accuracy issues identified across several audits, resulting in the overcharge.
“The investigator assessed the market impact as high, with an over-submission of 4.94 gigawatt hours of electricity between March 2022 to September 2025,” the authority said.
Christchurch City Council head of facilities and property Bruce Rendall said the discrepancy was identified by an independent auditor, after which Contact confirmed the overcharge.
“The matter is limited to streetlighting charges,” Rendall said. “Council is not a party to the Electricity Authority’s current complaint process.”
The council manages a streetlighting network of approximately 44,000 lights.
The largely LED network was operated through a central management system with smart controllers on individual lights.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand