Traffic Cones Are Increasing The Price Of Power

Safety must always be the top priority when working on the electricity network, but the escalating cost of temporary traffic management (TTM) faced by electricity networks is extraordinary.

A report commissioned by Electricity Networks Aotearoa has analysed the cost of working in the road corridor for lines companies. It shows that the cost of temporary traffic management per day has increased by around 208% from 2019 to 2024.

The report forecasts that the average cost per day for temporary traffic management is expected to rise from $785 in 2019, to $2,947 in 2026 — an increase of around 275% over the period.

Electricity Networks Aotearoa Chief Executive, Tracey Kai, says costs for temporary traffic management have been rising at an alarming rate.

“If nothing changes, costs will keep soaring — and every cost that lines companies face, flows through to consumer power bills.

“Most of the time, costs are essential, like maintaining all the poles and wires and future-proofing to ensure our electricity infrastructure is resilient to things like floods and storms.

“However, some of the costs imposed on lines companies are unnecessarily high due to outdated rules. These added expenses make running lines companies more expensive, and ultimately, drive up power prices for consumers.” says Kai.

ENA welcomes the recent changes the government is making to temporary traffic management which require contractors to adopt a ‘risk-based approach.’

This report gives us a national benchmark for the cost that lines companies pay for temporary traffic management when working in the road corridor. ENA plans to repeat the report in 18-24 months to assess how the new approach to temporary traffic management is tracking.

If costs continue to rise during this period, ENA will seek to work with the Government to maintain safety standards and push for further changes to the system.

“Ways to reduce the cost of power need to be a key focus for the entire energy sector,” says Kai.

“We can’t pretend that inflation and the cost of doing business have not gone up rapidly. Everyone’s feeling the pinch and power price increases from April this year make fixing some of our regulations even more pressing. We need to find cost savings to keep the price of power down for everyone,” says Kai.

The report was undertaken by Beca and it assessed the project costs of 17 lines companies over the last five years.

Below is a table that sets out the current approach to temporary traffic management vs the new approach that has been introduced.

Temporary Traffic Management (TTM) in New Zealand: Current vs New Approach

About ENA: Electricity Networks Aotearoa represents all 29 lines companies that operate the poles and wires delivering electricity to every region across Aotearoa. It uses its voice to make sure that all New Zealanders have reliable, sustainable and affordable electricity 24/7. It not only works closely with the lines companies who distribute the power. It also works with government, regulators, generation, transmission and retailers, to support the critical role of lines companies.

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