Retail Gas Contracts
In March 2010, Gas Industry Co submitted a recommendation to the Associate Minister for a scheme to monitor retail gas contracts. The scheme assesses gas supply arrangements annually for their alignment with benchmark outcomes and objectives. The Associate Minister announced on 12 May that she had endorsed the retail gas contracts oversight scheme as recommended. Elwood Law is conversant with the benchmarks and the overall scheme and was appointed as the Independent Assessor. The Assessor identified certain areas of concern where retail gas contracts were poorly aligned with the benchmarks. However, it was also found that, in practice, the gas retailers’ operations would appear to achieve the intent of the benchmarks. It is thus concluded that greater alignment could be achieved through better general descriptions of practice in the gas supply arrangements.
Retail Gas Contract Benchmarks - Restatement 2011
On 12 May 2010, the Associate Minister of Energy and Resources endorsed the oversight arrangements set out in Gas Industry Co’s Recommendation to the Associate Minister of Energy and Resources on the endorsement of arrangements for the oversight of gas retail contracts dated March 2010 (the Recommendation). A “baseline review” of gas supply arrangements was undertaken as at 15 June 2010 (the Baseline Review). As part of that process, Gas Industry Co provided the Independent Assessor with guidance on how the retail contract terms benchmarks set out in the Recommendation should be interpreted.
Following the Baseline Review, the Independent Assessor and Gas Industry Co reviewed the process and determined that the Benchmarks, as originally consulted upon, would benefit from a reorganisation or ‘restatement’. The restatement of the benchmarks contained in the below document does not substantially alter the benchmarks. Rather the benchmarks have been reordered and reframed, duplication and irrelevant statements have been removed, and clarity has been enhanced.
For any queries please contact Jacki Eves at jacki [dot] eves
gasindustry [dot] co [dot] nz.
