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A record year of revenue for customer contribution and connection fees is one highlight for Alpine Energy, as it prepares for major changes in the electricity industry spearheaded by a drive for decarbonisation.
The community-owned South Canterbury lines company’s 2022-2023 annual report reveals a network lines revenue of $56.7m ($53m in 2021-2022) and its highest ever customer contribution and connection fees revenue of $7.9m.
Chief executive Caroline Ovenstone said in the report the company’s equity grew by $14.9m, increasing shareholders’ investment value to $193m.
“With $26m invested in network capital expenditure, we enhanced infrastructure capacity.
“Our EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) was $37m, continuing our sustainable earnings.
“These strong results underline our financial stability and dedication to delivering reliable electricity services while positioning ourselves for future success.”
Both Ovenstone and board chairman Warren McNabb spoke about the challenges ahead with decarbonisation and the clear signal that New Zealand’s energy future was electric.
“This was evident across South Canterbury this year, with Alpine Energy experiencing a sustained uplift in customer enquiries for process heat decarbonisation, and both large-scale, and residential distributed generation installations,” McNabb said.
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Caroline Ovenstone, chief executive of Alpine Energy, says decarbonisation, electrification, and new technologies are rapidly transforming the energy landscape.
“The delivery of our first large-scale decarbonisation project – WoolWorks New Zealand – and a confirmed application for a large solar farm installation this year are examples of how our customer enquiry pipeline is transitioning to committed projects.”
Ovenstone said decarbonisation, electrification, and new technologies were rapidly transforming the energy landscape.
“South Canterbury, as a regional economy, is very much a part of this transformation.
“With customers actively pursuing emissions reduction, business growth, and transport electrification opportunities, we have seen a significant increase in the size and complexity of connection requests.
“This has fuelled changes across our business as we grow and build the new capabilities to adapt to meet the evolving energy needs in our region.”
JOHN BISSET and ALPINE ENERGY/Stuff
Alpine Energy’s network area that stretches over 10,000 square kilometres.
Ovenstone said to prepare for the ongoing transformation in the energy sector, AEL had taken important steps through its asset management strategy.
“To deliver on this strategy we developed a new Asset Management Plan. This plan recognises that historical network data is no longer sufficient to make informed decisions about our future investments.
“Our AMP signals a significant step-change in our forecast network and non-network expenditure over the next 10 years.
“The investment required to enable growth, decarbonisation, electrification, and improve our climate change resilience goes beyond just physical assets.”
Electrical vehicle interest increases
There have also been three upgrades to the regional public EV charging network.
Twizel’s public EV charger was upgraded to a 150kW supercharger with the 50kW charger relocated to Aoraki/Mt Cook Village. A new 150kW hypercharger was also installed in Orari on State Highway 1.
JOHN BISSET/STUFF
A new EV hyper charger has been officially unveiled at Orari in South Canterbury. Video first published in June, 2022.
The company’s October 2022 customer survey revealed that 50% of those surveyed were likely to purchase an EV within the next five years (6% 1-2 years, 44% 2-5 years). Just 8% of respondents indicated they were never likely to purchase an EV.
“This is a significant change from our previous survey where nearly 50% indicated they would never purchase an EV, and less than 10% indicated they would purchase an EV within the next five years,” the annual report said.
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
The new public hypercharger in Twizel.
Actual EV uptake remains low across South Canterbury compared to more metropolitan regions, with 445 EVs registered to owners in South Canterbury.
“However, survey results, paired with national EV fleet and market trends, and the continuation of government subsidies provide a clear indication of significant future growth in EVs.”
Shareholders’ dividend unchanged
The dividend for the four shareholders – Timaru District Holdings Ltd 47.5%, Waimate District Council 7.54%, Mackenzie District Council 4.96% and LineTrust South Canterbury 40% – remained unchanged at 6 cents per share. That means payouts of $1.17m, $189,967, $122,993 and $991,872 respectively.
Employment and salaries
There are 23 nationalities represented in the 179 (full-time equivalents) people employed across South Canterbury.
Of these more than 90 earn in excess of $100,000 and seven earn between $190,000 and $389,000. The largest individual employee remuneration for 2022-2023 was $610,000-$619,999 when Andrew Tombs resigned as chief executive officer in October.
“This includes all payments made as part of his retirement package,” the report said.
Other performance snapshots
- 329 new connections completed (FY22: 324)
- $198,792 granted to community projects and personal development grants
- 812GWh hours of electricity delivered on AE’s network (FY22: 836GWh)
- 142MW network maximum demand (FY22: 135MW)
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