On 18 December 2025, Property Council submitted to the Electricity Authority on the reducing barriers for new connections consultation. This consultation seeks feedback on proposals to address inefficiently high up-front charges some face when wanting to connect to distribution networks. It should be noted that this consultation is seeking feedback on an interim solution ahead of possible further changes to be made to connection pricing in 2030.
Why this matters to our members
Property Council supports the Electricity Authority’s intent to regulated high up-front connection charges and distributor obligations. High connection charges are an issue of significance for our membership, as it directly impacts development feasibility. Our members struggle with a lack of consistency, high costs, delays and a lack of transparent decision-making.
Our view
Our submission supports the Electricity Authority’s intent to introduce balance point pricing and an inquiry process for connection charges, however, we have made some recommendations which could strengthen this intent by providing access seekers with clear benchmarks, criteria and timeframes.
At a high level, Property Council recommends:
- The Authority publishes a clear set of metrics and benchmarks defining how the balance point principle will apply in practice;
- Publishing detail on how the Authority identifies suspect pricing, what benchmarking datasets it will be using and what criteria triggers an inquiry;
- The Authority require distributors to provide standardised, itemised quotes with transparent valuation methodologies;
- The Authority introduce mandatory timeframes and service-level requirements for connection quotes and approvals; and
- The Authority provides indicative timeframes for each stage of the process.