These terms make up the agreement between you and The Lines Company. These terms cover how we provide and operate our network safely and reliably (our line function services) to enable you to use electricity supplied by your electricity retailer. Or the terms on which your electrical installation is connected to our network, we provide line function services, or both.

The terms also set out the responsibilities you have in return.

You’ll find information about things like getting connected, paying electricity retailers, safety, planned and unplanned outages, and other topics you need to know about.

We’re committed to providing quality service
Even with the change to one bill for line function services and electricity, we still have a direct relationship with you under these terms. We remain committed to providing customers with the quality of service that you’d expect of a skilled and experienced electricity distribution business in New Zealand.

Customers remain connected to The Lines Company network. You benefit from our information about unplanned outages that’s available direct to customers, our specialised customer care, and our community-based programmes.

Some useful definitions to help you understand these terms

In these terms:

• you or your means the customer or the associated party (whichever applies to you)
• we, us, and our means The Lines Company Limited.

It’s also useful to understand what we mean by the point of supply. The point of supply is the point where the responsibility for lines and equipment changes from our responsibility to yours. The Network Code on our website has more information about the point of supply. You can also contact us if you want to find out where your point of supply lies.

Please see ‘Definitions we use in these terms’ where we give further explanations of some of the words we use.

Other documents you’ll find useful

In these terms, we refer to some other documents, such as published policies, lists, processes, schedules, standards, guidelines, forms, and fees. The documents that we’ve created are available on our website (see ‘Documents we refer to in these terms’). We update them from time to time. Go to our website for the latest versions.

When you own and/or use an installation connected to our network, you agree to and accept the terms of this agreement. These are our standard terms.

We provide the electricity network that enables customers to take a supply of electricity and associated parties to connect to the network. However, we don’t supply electricity, so this agreement is independent of any agreement you may have with an electricity retailer.

These terms apply from the time your installation is physically connected to our network. They apply whether your connection is connected or disconnected to our network.

These terms apply to our customers (for line function services ‘services’) and to associated parties (for physical connection of the installation to the network only). They don’t apply to any other services or works we may provide to you.

If you are a large or industrial customer, we may need to negotiate special terms with you that may apply separately or alongside these terms.

In this section, we describe what we provide to you, our service expectations, and our responsibilities to you.

What we agree to do for you

We will:

• provide customers safe, reliable, and legally compliant line function services up to the capacity we have agreed to provide at your installation (but we can’t guarantee uninterrupted supply)
• publish on our website a list of electricity retailers currently trading on our network
• allow associated parties to connect their installation to our network.

If our service is interrupted for some reason, we’ll do everything reasonable to restore services safely, and as soon as practicable.

For more detailed information about interruptions to service, see ‘How we manage unplanned outages to your electricity supply’ and ‘How we manage planned outages to our service’.

Our service standards

We follow good electricity industry practice when we operate our network. For customers who are ‘consumers’ under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 this means that we aim to provide line function services that meet the guarantee of acceptable quality set out in section 7A of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993:

• the supply of electricity is as safe as a reasonable consumer would expect it to be
• the supply of electricity to a place is as reliable as a reasonable consumer would expect a supply to that place to be
• the quality of the electricity supplied is such that it can be consistently used for the things that a reasonable consumer would expect to use electricity for.

We operate under strict quality and reliability thresholds

To assess quality and reliability of supply we can measure the voltage at your connection. We operate our network to ensure voltage at your point of supply is within +/- 6% of the nominal supply voltage. If you are concerned about the quality or reliability of supply at your point of supply, please contact us.

We take our legal obligations seriously

We make sure that the services comply with consumer’s rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993. Nothing in these terms limits your rights under that Act unless we are legally entitled to exclude any of its provisions. If you use our network for business purposes, the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply.

Some of the terms in this agreement may not apply to you or may become invalid over time or because of laws and regulations. If that happens, the rest of the terms still apply.

How you can access up-to-date information about outages
You can access our 24/7 outage information service here on our website.

This service provides information on planned and unplanned outages to our service. The outage information service will give the reason for the interruption and how long it’s likely to last, if we have that information.

Our 24/7 outage information service

Phone: 0800 367 328
Website: thelinescompany.co.nz

We’ll do our best to answer any questions

We’ll answer any questions or concerns you have about our services as quickly as we can, depending on the type of information you need.

If you have any questions about our line function services (including power quality, reliability, safety, a planned outage or an unplanned outage), we’ll get back to you as soon as reasonably practicable.

We aim to investigate and reply within 5 working days to let you know how we’re going with finding the answer to your question. We may need extra time to complete our investigation and if we do, we’ll let you know why and how much extra time is needed.

In any event, we’ll aim to complete our investigation and offer a resolution to you within the timeline set out in the Utilities Disputes scheme. See also ’What happens if you have a complaint’ and ‘Contact details’.

Our aim is to keep your lights on as we know that customers rely on our service — but sometimes outages can occur. In this section, we cover what can happen when service is interrupted unexpectedly. We update our outage information service regularly, so you can get the latest information we have on the reason for the outage and how long it’s likely to last.

See ‘How you can access up-to-date information about outages’.

Events beyond our control may affect our service

If something happens to our service that is beyond our control, we’ll work to restore service to customer’s installations safely and as quickly as reasonably practicable.

Here are some of the things we consider to be beyond our control:

• natural disasters, such as storms, lightning strikes, fires, floods, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes
• faults and interruptions on the transmission system (the national grid)
• industrial disturbances, such as strikes or lockouts
• criminal acts, vandalism, sabotage, unintentional damage caused by third parties (for example, because of car accidents) or cyber-attacks
• epidemic, pandemic or other infectious diseases, lockdown, or quarantine
• a binding order or requirement of the New Zealand Government that we need to follow
• terrorist acts and riots.

Sometimes we may need to interrupt your supply of electricity without notice

At times, we may need to interrupt your supply without giving notice. We’ll restore service to customer’s installations as quickly as we reasonably can.

Below we list some examples of when or why a supply interruption might happen:

• for health and safety reasons, including to prevent or restrict damage to property or injury to any person
• to protect our network or equipment connected to our network
• because of a fault or because we need to fix a fault
• during load management (see ‘How we manage the load on our network’).

Other reasons for interrupting the supply without notice can be to comply with instructions we receive from or on behalf of:

• the electricity retailer responsible for supply to your installation
• the owner or operator of the national grid
• any other person responsible for the security of electricity supply
• any relevant authority that considers interruption of supply to be in the national interest.

We can also interrupt supply without notice for any other reason in line with good electricity industry practice or because of events beyond our control, or both.

See ‘How you can access up-to-date information about outages’.

Sometimes we need to carry out planned outages to our service so that we can keep up the high standards of service customers expect from us. Planned outages allow us to:

• upgrade the network
• maintain, replace, and repair equipment
• install or remove equipment
• interrupt service on behalf of others so that works can take place safely
• connect new customers
• deal with any issues that also may cause unplanned outages.

We will notify your electricity retailer in advance of a planned outage and they will let customers know about the outage in advance, and we’ll also display information about planned outages on our website.

We sometimes need to manage the load on our network during periods of high or ‘peak’ electrical demand, or if Transpower request us to carry out load management. Load management works by us sending a signal from our control room to switch off hot water heating to reduce the amount of electricity being used.

Load management is normally carried out in winter, mostly in the evenings or mornings. And once demand eases, we send another signal to the relay (an electrically operated switch) to turn the hot water heating back on. Customers choose to be on load management so they can benefit from receiving a lower rate for their peak time.

We may carry out load management at any time to manage the network. We will not carry out load management during any period of 24 hours for longer than 12 hours unless exceptional circumstances apply.

You can get more information about load management in our Network Code.

You agree to grant us and our agents access to your property when we need to for the purposes of these terms. We may need access to your property for the reasons set out in the Electricity Act 1992 or for one of the reasons listed below. (These are examples, not a full list of reasons.)

Common reasons we will need access to your property The most common reasons we, or our agents, will need access to your property are to:

• maintain the operation of our network, including identifying and repairing faults, or inspecting, testing, installing, operating, maintaining, replacing, or removing our fittings and meters
• read or download data from the meter or meters at your installation
• prevent harm to people or installations from equipment that we are responsible for
• clear trees, vegetation, or other obstacles where these interfere with our fittings or where we have been given permission to clear obstacles.

We may also need access to your property to:

• connect or disconnect the supply of electricity to your installation
• commission or decommission your installation
• make sure we’re complying with our Network Code and any legal obligations, such as diagnosing and fixing the cause of any interference that’s affecting the quality of our line function services.

Now that we’ve covered our responsibilities, let’s move on to what your responsibilities are under this agreement. In this section, we outline what we expect you to do under these terms.

Note that you cannot transfer your responsibilities under this agreement to anyone else.

Tell us about any changes that affect this agreement

You must tell us about changes that affect your agreement with us. Here are some of the things you must tell us about:

• any changes to your contact details (if we are billing you direct for line function services or you are an associated party)
• any issues with outages or any technical or capacity aspects about your connection in accordance with our Network Code.

Tell your retailer if you or someone else depends on electricity for medical equipment

If you are a customer, you must tell your electricity retailer if you or someone else permanently or temporarily using your installation uses medical equipment that needs a constant supply of electricity for critical medical support. Critical medical support means that losing electricity supply may result in loss of life or serious harm.

The electricity retailer must record relevant information about verified medically dependent consumers in their system and pass this information onto us.

We’ll do our best (either directly or through your retailer) to discuss possible alternative arrangements with you or the medically dependent consumer to ensure outages are covered, whether planned or unplanned.

We recommend you also have an emergency response plan to suit your circumstances as we can’t always guarantee continuous supply of electricity. Examples that are outside our control are:

• a natural disaster of some kind
• an unplanned outage due to equipment failing on the network or damage caused by a third party.

For more information, see the Electricity Authority’s consumer care guidelines for medically dependent consumers on their website: ea.govt.nz.

Maintain your installation and fittings to a safe and acceptable standard

You are responsible for maintaining your installation and fittings to the standards set out in our Network Code. Maintenance must be carried out by a suitably qualified electrician.

Keep meters and equipment safe

Under this agreement, you’re responsible for keeping meters and equipment safe by:

• providing protective housing for metering equipment
• not interfering with meters, or related equipment
• protecting any sensitive equipment you have.

You must comply with the Network Code and not interfere with our fittings and related equipment.

Report outages on our network

We encourage you to report outages on our network. Please use our dedicated 0800 number to report outages: 0800 367 328.

Allow us safe and unobstructed access to your property

You must allow us, or our agents, safe and unobstructed access to your property and to energy supply equipment we and third parties own that’s installed on your property or in your buildings. For example, you must make sure dogs are kept under control when we or our agents need access.

Be safe around our lines and cables, and give us notice of works near trees or structures

Make sure you work safely when near our lines and cables. Contact us at least 20 working days in advance if you want to:

• cut or trim any trees within 4m of our lines
• do any other activity that for safety reasons needs a temporary disconnection.

Your temporary disconnection for safety reasons may mean we need time to send a planned outage notice to other customers or associated parties on our network.

Keep your trees and other items clear of our fittings

You must make sure that trees and vegetation on your property do not damage our fittings or interrupt our service. You agree to keep all trees and vegetation on your property clear of our fittings to meet the hazard restrictions as outlined on our website.

If any trees or vegetation on your property make contact with any of our fittings, you agree to pay for the cost of any outage caused, and any damage or repairs that are needed.

If any loose equipment or items on your property make contact with any of our fittings, you agree to pay the costs of any outage caused, and for any damage caused or repairs needed. For example, make sure trampolines are tied down and that you don’t have items like loose sheets of corrugated iron.

Our trees information complies with The Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulation 2003 (as amended from time to time). Please contact us for more information about hazards from trees and vegetation.

Get our consent for electricity generators

You must have our written consent before connecting any equipment to your installation that is capable of injecting electricity into the network, whether inadvertently or when operating normally.

If you connect equipment without our consent, we may disconnect your installation, as outlined in ‘When we may disconnect your installation’.

Examples of generation equipment include diesel generators, solar photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and hydro generation equipment.

See information about the process and connection methods in our Network Code and Distributed Generation Policy.

Pay your bill promptly

If you are a customer, we may appoint a retailer as our agent to collect payment for us from you. You must pay that retailer the amount shown on the retailer’s bill by the due date set out on the bill.

We bill some large customers directly. If we are direct billing you, you must:

• pay your bill on time — pay the amounts shown in your billing statement on or before the due date
• tell us if you are selling your property — we need 5 working days’ notice so that we can update your contact details.

What’s included in your monthly billing statement

Unless we agree or advise otherwise, we’ll send you a monthly billing statement with:

• details of the charges that make up the total amount
• the billing period and due date for payment.

If you are a customer and have agreements with us for multiple installations, we’ll show the charges in separate invoices, which form part of the same billing statement.

The billing statement shows our payment terms. You must pay in full by the due date without any kind of deduction or set-off unless we have agreed individual payment terms with you.

If a prompt payment discount applies, we’ll include it in our Schedule of Prices or pricing notification to you.

See ‘How we’ll communicate with you’ for information about when we consider you have received our billing statement.

Our debt collection process

If everything goes well, we won’t ever need to talk to a debt collection agency about your payments.

But if we do, we’ll do as much as we can to let you know we’re about to contact a debt collection agency. At any stage, we and you can agree individual payment terms, and if you meet those terms, we won’t ask an agency to follow up on the debt.

If you pay any arrears, we will apply the payments to the oldest amounts outstanding unless those amounts are in dispute.

If we need to take action to recover overdue payments from you, you are liable for any reasonable collection and legal fees we incur.

This section covers what you need to know about your pricing.

We explain our pricing in several documents which can be found on our website, these include:

• our pricing methodology outlines how we structure and set prices
• our schedule of prices outlines the prices for our line function services
• our pricing policy describes how we apply pricing ‘rules’ including when you can move pricing plans.

Your bill will be calculated from metering information provided by your retailer (or your retailer’s metering equipment provider).

How we’ll tell you about changes to pricing

We’ll tell you about changes to any of these documents on our website. We’ll give at least 20 working days’ notice of changes to the schedule of prices and explain why pricing is changing and who the changes will affect.

Who is eligible for The Lines Company Discount?

Customers connected to our network within the boundary of the Waitomo Energy Services Customer Trust (WESCT) may be eligible for The Lines Company Discount (“discount”).

We, or the retailer billing you for line function services as our agent, will credit the discount to eligible customers’ accounts under the rules for the discount. The discount may offset any debt you have with us or your electricity retailer (as applicable).

The rules for the discount are on our website and we may update them from time to time.

In this section, we outline what you need to know about disconnection and reconnection.

Disconnection stops the supply of electricity to your installation. Reconnection starts the supply again.

You still have responsibilities under our terms even if your installation is disconnected. This includes your payment obligations.

When we may disconnect your installation

We will disconnect your installation if you don’t have a current supply agreement with an electricity retailer or we may disconnect if you are in breach of these terms.

Below we outline some of the specific reasons why we may disconnect your installation.

Not meeting payment obligations

We may disconnect your installation if you are a customer and:

• you don’t pay us on time
• you don’t give us a bond if we request one.

Not giving us access

We may disconnect your installation if:

• you unreasonably deny us access to your premises or property
• you prevent access to your meters for meter reading or downloading metering data.

Safety reasons

If we believe that fittings or conductors on your property pose an immediate risk to people or property, we may disconnect them to prevent the risk of harm.

We may disconnect your installation if:

• you inject or attempt to inject electricity into our network without our consent
• we believe any distributed generation equipment (for example, solar photovoltaic system, wind turbines, and hydro generation) at your installation does not meet the safety standard requirements in our Distributed Generation Policy.

See our Network Code for more information about disconnections and reconnections.

In this section, we describe how we deal with changes that we may need to make to these terms.

Changes to these terms are sometimes required by law or because of changes to the rules we operate under.

We’ll tell you about changes to our terms

We’ll tell you about any changes to our terms at least 20 working days before changes take effect.

We’ll do everything reasonable to make sure you receive the information about a change in the terms. But we can still make the change even if you don’t receive the information.

We’ll consult a Customer Service Panel before we make major changes

When we wish to make changes to these terms that we believe will significantly affect you, we’ll consult a Customer Service Panel. We won’t consult a Customer Service Panel before we make minor changes.

What you can do if you’re unhappy about any changes to these terms

If you are unhappy with any changes made to these terms, please follow our process for resolving complaints (see ‘What happens if you have a complaint’).

You also have the right to end this agreement with us (see ‘When you want to end your agreement with us’).

We may transfer our responsibilities to a third party

We may assign or transfer any of our rights and obligations under this agreement to a third party. If we do so, we will let you know. We’ll tell you the name and contact details of the other party, the effective date of the transfer, and who you need to pay for line function services.

When the transfer takes effect, the third party takes over all the obligations of this agreement.

You also have the right to end this agreement with us (see ‘When you want to end your agreement with us’).

By keeping each other informed, we’ll both get the most out of our agreement. In this section, we describe how we’ll communicate with each other.

In all our dealings, we’ll be polite and respectful to you, and in return, you agree to treat our team with politeness and respect. We won’t tolerate any form of bullying, threatening, abusive, violent, discriminatory or harassment type of behaviour, whether face to face, over the phone, or in correspondence.

See also ‘What happens if you have a complaint’ and ‘Contact details’.

How we‘ll tell you about changes or other things you need to know

Where these terms require us to give you notice, we will do that in one or more of the following ways.

For an individual notice, we can:

• hand-deliver it to your last known address given to us or your electricity retailer
• post it to the latest postal address given to us by you or your electricity retailer
• send it to the latest email address given to us by you or your electricity retailer

We’ll assume you have received your billing statement or notice:

• on the day it is hand-delivered
• if posted, no later than 3 working days after the date of posting
• if emailed, no later than 1 working day after leaving the sender’s email system, unless during that time the sender’s email system receives a delivery failure notification.

For a notice to all customers or associated parties, we may publish the notice in a local newspaper in the relevant area. We’ll consider the day after it is published in the newspaper to be the day it’s received.

How to give us notice when you need to

When you need to give us notice, you must use the contact details at the end of this agreement.

We hope you won’t need to make a complaint but sometimes things can go wrong, so in this section, we broadly describe the complaints process that is available to you. We encourage you to talk to us first if you have a problem with us.

We have a process to resolve complaints

If you make a complaint under this agreement, we’ll follow our complaints resolution process to try to resolve your complaint.

You can view our complaints resolution process on our website or ask us for a copy (see ‘Contact details’).

You can contact Utilities Disputes

If we can’t resolve your complaint after working through our process, you can take it to Utilities Disputes. They offer a free and independent service for resolving complaints.

See ‘Contact details’ for information about how to contact Utilities Disputes. You can take a complaint to Utilities Disputes at any time.

In this section, we outline the extent of our liability and yours, and in what circumstances we will pay compensation.

Our liability to residential customers and associated parties

If we cause physical damage to your property through negligence, we will pay the reasonable costs of repairing the damage for any single event or series of related events. We will pay up to the limit described below. If appropriate, we will replace the damaged property rather than repairing it.

The services we provide to consumers (as defined in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993) comply with the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

These terms allow for your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Fair Trading Act 1986, and any other relevant law, unless we are legally entitled to exclude any of their provisions. If you use our services for business purposes, the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply.

We do not exclude or seek to limit any liability that we have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 1986.

In all cases other than where the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 1986 applies, our liability to you is limited to $10,000 (ten thousand dollars) for any single event or series of connected events.

Our liability to non-residential customers and associated parties

If we cause physical damage to your property through negligence, we’ll pay the reasonable costs of repairing the damage for any single event or series of related events. We’ll pay up to the limit described below. If we consider appropriate, we’ll replace the damaged property rather than repairing it.

Our maximum liability to you under these terms, no matter how the liability came about, is limited to the lesser of:

• half the charges you have paid for line function services in the 12 months before the event (if any); or
• $20,000 (twenty thousand dollars).

What we’re not liable for

Whether you are a residential or commercial customer or an associated party, we’re not liable for:

• any natural disaster or event listed under ‘Events beyond our control may affect our service’
• any problems caused by third parties who are not under our control — in such circumstances you may have a claim against a third party
• any loss or damage that was not reasonably foreseeable
• any loss of profits, revenue, use, contract, goodwill, indirect or consequential loss
• any loss, corruption, or damage to computers, software, or data.

We exclude all other liability we may have to you to the fullest extent the law allows.

Your liability to us and what costs you must pay

If we have to take action to recover an amount you owe us or to enforce any of these terms, you are liable for all associated costs we incur (including the cost of a solicitor).

In this section, we describe the information we need from you as part of this agreement and how we’ll use that information.

What information we need from you

We need some information from you so that we can provide obligations under this agreement:

• to allow your installation to be physically connected to our network (if applicable) and/or
• to enable us to provide line function services to customers.

You agree that the information you give us will be correct and complete and that you’ll give it to us in a reasonable timeframe.

What information we may collect from you

We (and our agents) may collect and hold metering information from your installation.

We may collect and hold personal information about you (as a customer or associated party), and your installation. This information may include recordings of telephone conversations with you.

How we may use your information

We may use metering information to determine the quantities for our charges and to analyse our network’s performance and operation.

We may use the personal information we collect and hold for any of the following purposes:

• to supply services to you and manage any obligations you may have under this agreement
• to send (or to assist an agent to send) you a billing statement, send you notices, or contact you when needed
• to carry out credit checks or debt collection (if we are direct billing line function services)
• for network management purposes for contacting medically dependent consumers and coordinating with retailers regarding these consumers if appropriate.

We may also use the personal information you give us for the following:

• to meet the requirements of the rules that govern our industry, good electricity industry practice, and Utilities Disputes
• to meet the requirements of Waitomo Energy Services Customer Trust and King Country Electric Power Trust, including requirements for distributions and elections
• to research the quality and level of services we offer you
• to work with your electricity retailer
• to meet any other purpose set out in our Privacy Policy.

If we don’t have enough information to meet the purposes listed above, we may use information from your electricity retailer. We will only use this information for the purposes listed above.

You can ask for information we hold about you and have it corrected

Our Privacy Policy gives you the right to:

• ask for any personal information we hold about you
• ask that we correct any of your personal information if you show it is incorrect.

In this section, we outline what happens when our agreement ends.

When this agreement ends automatically

This agreement will end automatically when you are no longer a customer or associated party.

When you want to end your agreement with us You may end this agreement if you:

• give us 5 working days’ notice that you wish to end this agreement
• pay all outstanding charges
• allow us to physically disconnect your installation from our network.

When we may end our agreement with you

If you don’t meet your responsibilities under this agreement, we’ll let you know what is wrong, what needs to be done, and when it must be done by.

If you don’t comply after getting this information, we may end this agreement, subject to any obligations we have for continuing supply. You will still be liable to pay us any outstanding amounts whether directly to us, or for the line function services to the electricity retailer as our agent.

We may end this agreement for some other reason, such as updating the terms of the agreement, by giving you at least 20 working days’ notice. In this case, we must make sure both of the following apply:

• our notice of ending the agreement includes letting you know about a replacement agreement published on our website
• we have consulted with the Customer Service Panel on the replacement agreement, according to the terms.

Decommissioning your installation when the agreement ends

If you end this agreement and you wish to decommission your installation, you must complete a decommission request form. Contact your electricity retailer for the form.

If we end this agreement and you remain the owner of the installation, we may decommission the installation.

If you are the owner of the installation and there is no current supply agreement with an electricity retailer relating to that installation you may request us to decommission your installation.

If your installation is decommissioned, we will remove our equipment, not be bound by any continuance of supply obligations at that installation, and treat any recommission as if it was an application for a new connection.

Some parts of this agreement continue beyond the end of the agreement

By their nature, some terms in this agreement extend beyond the expiry or end of the agreement and, as such, will remain in effect until fulfilled.

Our definitions may differ from the legal descriptions for these terms — we have tried to explain them in plain language.

agreement is the contract between you and us, which consists of these terms and any other document that you may have signed or agreed to.

associated party means someone who owns an installation connected to our network but who is not liable for the charges for line function services.

bond is money we may request from the customer where we are direct billing line function services. The bond acts as security and we may use it to cover unpaid charges.

capacity refers to the maximum amount of power available from the network at a single point in time. Each installation requires a share of the network’s total capacity.

charges means all charges and fees charged by us to you for our services.

complaints resolution process sets out the steps we take if you make a complaint about our services. The details of this process are available on our website
(thelinescompany.co.nz) and may occasionally be updated.

connection is the physical act of connecting a customer’s installation to the network, and connect has a corresponding meaning.

continuance of supply obligations means the obligation we have under Section 105 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010 to continue to provide line function services to installations connected to the network on or before 1 April 1993. For installations connected to the network after this time, we don’t have that obligation and both parties are bound only by this agreement.

customer means someone who owns and/or uses an installation connected to our network who is liable for the charges for line function services billed by us or an electricity retailer as our agent.

Customer Service Panel is an independent group of customers, who are interested in the standard of service we provide. The panel is intended to represent a wide range of our customers. We consult with the panel if we wish to make major changes to these terms.

decommission, decommissioning, or decommissioned means the physical removal of our fittings resulting in disconnection from our network.

disconnect, disconnection, or disconnected means the operation of an isolator, circuit breaker, or switch, or the placing of a fuse or link, so that no electricity can flow through a point of supply on the network, except to maintain the operational integrity of an isolation device.

electricity retailer means a person, firm, company, or organisation that supplies or sells electricity to a consumer or buys electricity from a consumer.

fittings means the lines, poles, transformers, and other equipment necessary to transport electricity to or from an installation. Providing and maintaining fittings is either our responsibility or the customer’s.

generation means generation of electricity at an installation connected to our network.

good electricity industry practice means exercising the degree of skill, diligence, prudence, foresight, and economic management expected from a skilled and experienced electricity network owner engaged in distributing electricity in New Zealand.

installation refers to the building or equipment capable of receiving line function services from our network.

line function services means how we provide and operate the network to deliver electricity. Line function services don’t include providing metering equipment or supplying electricity — these services are supplied by metering equipment providers and electricity retailers.

load management or load control is the process of reducing electrical load on our network.

metering equipment means the metering components used for measuring and recording the quantity of electricity transported through a point of supply.

metering equipment provider means a person, firm, company, or organisation who, under the requirements of the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010, is responsible for a metering installation or is appointed as responsible for a metering installation.

point of supply refers to the point where the responsibility for lines and equipment changes from our responsibility to yours. The point of supply may be outside your property boundary. You can find a fuller explanation of this term and some common examples of points of supply in our Network Code.

reconnect, reconnection, or reconnected means to enable the flow of electricity through a point of supply on the network after it has been disconnected.

rules refers to the Electricity Industry Act 2010 and the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 and Regulations supported by the Act (as amended or replaced from time to time.

Utilities Disputes means the scheme approved or provided for under section 95 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010.

we and us and our means The Lines Company Limited.

working day means a day of the week other than a Saturday, Sunday, or any other day that is a public holiday in our network area.

you or your means the customer or associated party (as applicable).

You can find links to the latest versions of these documents on our website

• Distributed Generation Policy
• Network Code
• Pricing Methodology
• Pricing Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Schedule of Prices

The Lines Company

Website: thelinescompany.co.nz

Email: info@thelines.co.nz

Phone: 0800 367 546 or 07 878 0600

Faults line to report outages and faults: 0800 367 328 Post: The Lines Company Ltd, PO Box 281, Te Kūiti 3941 Main office: King Street East, Te Kūiti

Our outage information service
Outage information is available 24/7.

Phone: 0800 367 328
Website: thelinescompany.co.nz

Who to contact if you have a complaint

If you have an issue you would like resolved, please first email us on resolutions@thelines.co.nz or give us a call on 0800 367 546.

If you have an outstanding issue that you believe we haven’t handled in the best possible way, you can contact Utilities Disputes. Utilities Disputes is a free and independent service for resolving complaints about utilities providers.

Website: https://www.udl.co.nz/
Email: info@udl.co.nz
Phone: 0800 22 33 40
Post: Utilities Disputes, PO Box 5875, Lambton Quay, Wellington 6145, Freepost 192682