Industry companies

ENA’s 24 members are the lines companies marked on the diagram here. They range in size from Vector, with about 700,000 end users, down to Buller Electricity, with about 4,000.

They are owned by approximately 30 community-based organisations of various types:

• 25 community electricity trusts
• Four local bodies
• One community cooperative

Two companies are part-owned by a community trust and part by public shareholders, and two are part-owned by a local body and by public shareholders. Several operate a number of lines or infrastructure companies through a single management company.

The electricity trusts that own most of the lines industry on behalf of communities or consumers are not involved in day-to-day management but, like any group of shareholders, have rights to appoint suitably qualified directors to the boards of the companies they own. They have their own organisation, Energy Trusts of New Zealand.

You can find statistics on the lines industry here.