Historical pricing error
Tuesday 16 April 2024
Alpine Energy working urgently to rectify historical error
Alpine Energy has discovered historical errors in its Information Disclosure statements and immediately begun a process to remedy the situation.
This administrative error resulted in the setting of revenue targets higher than they should have been in 2015-23, leading to non-deliberate over-charging of the lines component of electricity bills.
Alpine Energy Chair Melissa Clark-Reynolds said the regrettable error discovered in the 2023 audit would be fixed in a transparent, timely and practical way.
“The Board acknowledges the mistake and accepts responsibility for correcting it. We will work with the Commerce Commission to agree the best way to do this,” she said.
“The complexity of the financial models used to regulate the sector make it a challenging task to precisely establish the overcharged amount. This will need to be worked through with the Commission. But an early estimate suggests around $2 million on average a year, or about three percent of Alpine’s total revenue for the nine-year period.
“While we still have much to work through with the Commission, we have taken some initial actions,” Ms Clark-Reynolds said.
“First, we want to prevent this continuing and are resetting this year’s lines charges.
“Second, the Board will not pay an interim dividend for the three months ending March 2024.
“It is unfortunate this accounting error has occurred, but I can assure our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders that the Board is working towards a fair and pragmatic resolution,” Ms Clark-Reynolds said.
For more information please email support@alpineenergy.co.nz
Your lines charges have been updated, effective 1 June
