Vector Network News – July 23, 2012

Vector Network News – July 23, 2012

Vector’s online pricing calculator has won over fans in some unlikely places. Traffic to the calculator, designed to help de-mystify electricity bills for customers, has more than exceeded expectations with the interactive tool quickly reaching a top ten page ranking within the site. The big surprise is that some users are coming in from Australia and the United States. The calculator illustrates the split of a customer’s electricity bill into retailer charges, pass through costs and Vector's distribution charges.

Vector's prices are regulated by the Commerce Commission. The regulations limit our annual price increases to the CPI plus changes in pass through costs. Try the calculator online here.

NETWORKS SUMMARY for Week Commencing 16 July 2012
ELECTRICITY
• Another busy week of third party incidents on our network. The bad weather early in the week saw six car v pole accidents, possibly due to the slippery road surfaces. In another car v pole incident, a car struck a Chorus pole and the lines off that pole hit our 33 kV lines and caused two of our sub stations to trip in the Henderson Valley area. Some 5000 customers were without power after a contractor struck a cable in Mangere and caused a feeder fault, with another cable fault causing two customers to lose power on Tamaki Drive. Faults crews attended five house fires (Kingsland, Henderson, Kelston, Glen Eden, Mangere Bridge) to isolate power supplies for fire personnel.
GAS TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
• There were four gas incidents this week; contractors struck our gas lines in Ellerslie, Ponsonby and Remuera. There was also a report of a gas smell in the CBD. Our crews attended, along with Fire Service and tested for gas presence; there was no evidence of gas. One of the more unusual gas incidents occurred in Hamilton this week – a homeowner was doing a little DIY and struck his own gas line with his axe. Please take care around our gas network and call 0508 B4 U WORK (248 967) or 0800 B4 U DIG if outside Auckland.

METERING
• Meter deployment continues at a steady pace.
FIBRE
• The Vector Communications Internet product family has been expanded with the launch of InfiNet, which joins DirectNet - our dedicated access Internet product. InfiNet is ideal for customers who don’t want to manage and contend their own Internet service as it gives them a packaged managed internet product that they can sell onto their consumers, providing them with high performance uncapped access to the Internet.

PROJECTS UPDATE
• Over the past five months, Vector has been busy constructing a new 33kV feeder through Warkworth, 2.7km of which is overhead line. This reinforces the supply of electricity to this scenic pocket north of Auckland and will provide supply for a future substation in the area.
The just completed project saw the replacement of 55 pole structures, complete with all hardware, and new 33kV overhead lines, as well as various upgrades at the Warkworth substation and 1.6km of sub transmission cabling. Vector’s focus on stakeholder communication and traffic management was a key success factor; it eliminated disruptions to motorists during the four holiday weekends that fell within the project timeframe, while keeping works on track. The project team also did a sterling job of looking after the community, ensuring that affected power customers remained well informed of shutdowns and project progress (photos available).

SHORTS
• Vector owns over 17,737 kilometres of overhead and underground lines in the greater Auckland area, and 12,572 kilometres of gas pipe lines, with almost half supplying gas to Auckland.

• Vector welcomes Kimbra to Auckland on Saturday 28 July. Vector, proud sponsor of the Arena.

ENDS

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