TrustPower
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is TrustPower?
TrustPower's origins date back to 1920 with the formation of the Tauranga Electric Power Board.
TrustPower has been retailing electricity for nearly a century and customer service and accounts management are a well established integrated core competency.
TrustPower has successfully moved through the processes of corporatisation and NZSE listing in 1993, several mergers, and the repositioning away from lines ownership to generation acquisition and generation development.
TrustPower is one of New Zealand's "big five" integrated electricity generator-retailers. It retails to 220,000 customers with over 580 MW of hydro and wind generation following the commissioning of deep Stream (5MW hydro) and Taraua Stage III(93MW wind).
TrustPower's operations are based in Tauranga and its generation is also remote controlled from there.
Does Infratil have control of TrustPower?
Infratil owns 50.5% of TrustPower which provides control and means that Infratil consolidates TrustPower in its accounts.
Infratil has appointed two TrustPower directors and supports the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust's Director nominee to the TrustPower Board. Three other directors are independent, selected to ensure a diversity of experience and relevant backgrounds.
Who are the other shareholders at TrustPower?
Infratil owns 50.5%, Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust 33.0%.
The remaining 16.5% are held by approximately 13,000 predominantly small investors, many of whom are also electricity customers.
Who are the Directors of TrustPower?
Dr Bruce J Harker (Chairman)
Richard Aitken (independent) appt 19 May 2010
Michael Cooney (Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust)
Lloyd Morrison (Infratil)
Marko Bogoievski (Infratil alternate for Lloyd Morrison)
Geoff Swier (Indpendent)
Sam Knowles (Independent)
Is TrustPower badly exposed as a 'net retailer'?
TrustPower's approach is to ensure it has enough forward purchases to augment its own generation to meet its forecast fixed price customer requirements for a forward eighteen to thirty six month horizon. TrustPower's own generation has grown to be sufficient to support its mass market customer base.
Why is lnfratil still invested in TrustPower?
Infratil is comfortable that TrustPower's value will continue to grow due primarily to the depth and quality of the management at TrustPower and its ownership of renewable non fossil fuelled generation in a world increasingly pricing carbon into other forms of energy.
Infratil also believes TrustPower has value adding new generation options particularly in wind and selected regional hydro opportunities.
Infratil views Trustpower as a well managed company in a very good space.
What is TrustPower doing in Australia and how does it relate to Infratil's other Australian Investments?
TrustPower has constructed an 88 MW wind farm in South Australia near Snowtown. This is an example of application of TrustPower's well developed core wind development competency in site assessments, land owner relations, site selection for community support and also project development skills in meeting technical grid requirements, connection requirements as well as contracting with wind turbine suppliers. The power from Snowtown is all sold on a 'as produced basis for a specified price per KWh' until 2018. As such TrustPower is not exposed to electricity or green credit pricing risk over this period and has not needed to establish Australian power trading or marketing capability. Currently therefore TrustPower in Australia has very little overlap with any of Infratil's other Australian energy sector businesses.
Infratil's other Australian operations include 100% owned retailing businesses and Infratil also undertakes selected peaking generation development to augment the retail businesses electricity purchasing from the wholesale market.
TrustPower has been retailing electricity for nearly a century and is a leading retailer in New Zealand's competitive retail market. While not overlapping in a geographic sense with Infratil's Australian retail businesses, Infratil has supported and encouraged these businesses to have dialogue where there are areas of common interest.
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