New Zealand electricity transmission firm Transpower has reported that its surplus after tax and before revaluation was NZ$126.1 million for the year ended June 30, 2007, compared with the 2005/2006 surplus of NZ$96.9 million.
The company’s transmission revenue of NZ$535 million also increased, by 5.4% compared to the previous financial year.
David Gascoigne, chairman of Transpower, said: The increases in surplus and transmission revenue can largely be attributed to increasing energy being transported by the National Grid and increased peak demand for electricity which attracts higher revenue.
Given the need to fund the proposed levels of capital expenditure on major grid investment projects, there will also be no dividend paid to the Crown this year. The surplus will all be invested back into the grid which helps keep the cost down for end users. The cost of operating the National Grid accounts for about 10 cents in the dollar of an average consumer power bill – this is not expected to increase more than a couple of cents in the dollar over the next five to 10 years.