Discounts  I  Energy Efficiency  I  Electrical Safety  I  Tree Regulations

Eligibility for Discounts
Consumers with Installation Connection Points will be eligible for a discount upon all of the following criteria being satisfied:

1. The Installation Connection Point must be connected at some stage, from 1 February to 31 January.
2. The Installation Connection Point must be non remote by location, as designated by the attached map (1.99mb).  Remote locations are not economic and are therefore not eligible for a discount. 
3. The Installation Connection Point must be connected on the qualification date.  The qualification date is set by Marlborough Lines, on any day in March of each year.  The qualification date is not only to ensure that all installation points are still connected on the qualification date, but to ensure that discounts credited to Energy Retailers are accurate and appropriately managed for all consumers alike.

The most recent qualification date was 11 March 2010.

Discounts for Consumers on Low User Tariffs
Consumers who use less than the average amount of electricity 8,000kwh, and elect to be supplied under the low user tariff options will pay less in line charges. These consumers pay less because they have a lower fixed charge, although the line charges for energy used are at a higher rate. Consequently they will receive a lower discount as the discount is a proportion of what is paid in line charges.   

Common Questions on the Consumer Discount

Q. How will the discount be paid?
A.  The discount will be paid to your electricity retailer as at 11 March 2010, e.g., TrustPower, Meridian etc, who will then pass on the appropriate amount of discount to you as a credit to your electricity account. We make the payments in this manner because you pay the Marlborough Lines portion of your electricity bill to your electricity retailer.

Q. When can I expect to receive the discount?
A. The discount will be paid to your current electricity supplier towards the end of March and you can expect to see it appear as a credit on your electricity account from early April onwards. We are not in a position to provide you with the exact date that the discount will appear on your account as this will vary according to the retailers billing period.

Q. How is the discount calculated?
A. The discount is related to the line charge revenue Marlborough Lines receives, via your electricity retailer, for each individual installation.  The minimum amounts of discount rates payable for the current year are shown on the attached Line Price Schedule effective from 1 April 2009. 

Q. What is an installation?
A. Generally speaking, an installation is your premises or point of electricity supply. You would typically receive a separate account for each installation that you have.

Q. Why is the discount calculated on the basis of installation usage rather than users' usage?
A. Information available to us from the retailer does not allow us to track individual electricity user usage over time where electricity users have moved from one installation to another. The only information that is available to us to determine discount payments is the installation address and the line charge revenue received from that installation and the fairest means of calculating usage is based on a per installation basis.

Q. What happens if I move immediately before the discount is paid out?
A. There are sometimes problems with 'cut off points' for payments of this kind. We cannot avoid these and do our best to tell people well in advance of the coming discount to enable them to make their own arrangements where possible. If you are changing address around the time of the discount payment we suggest that you consider coming to some arrangement with the new occupiers. For example you could put a provision in your Sale and Purchase Agreement for the appropriate discount payment to be forwarded to you. As we are not able to advise the actual level of discount until towards the end of March we suggest that any such provision should provide for the discount to be allocated on a days of occupancy basis or similar.

Q. Who can help if I have queries about my discount?
A. Marlborough Lines calculates the discount for each user based on information provided by the energy retailer. The discount is then paid by Marlborough Lines to the energy retailer to credit to your account. If after you have received your discount you consider the amount is incorrect you should contact Marlborough Lines.

Q. I own multiple properties - will they each receive a discount?
A. If each of your properties has a separate point of supply i.e. you receive separate electricity accounts for each of them, you should receive an appropriate discount for each property. You should receive a letter from Marlborough Lines indicating the amount of discount paid for each of your properties.

Q. What happens to the discount if the electricity account was not in my name e.g. a flatting situation?
A. As the discount must be paid as a credit to the electricity account for your installation, we are not in a position to determine monies payable to individuals. The onus is therefore on you to recover the proportion of the discount that you believe is due to you. One way to do this would be to come to a prior arrangement with the person whose name the flat account is held in.

Q. Why is Marlborough Lines paying a discount rather than a dividend?
A. Payment of a discount enables Marlborough Lines to pass on maximum benefit to its electricity users. The discount policy continues to be endorsed by the trustees of the company.

Q. Why is the electricity user discount paid at the end of March?
A. Along with the majority of lines companies in New Zealand, Marlborough Lines has an annual 31 March balance date.  At this time, when the year's financial results are known, we are best positioned to determine the overall level of funding that can be allocated to the electricity users discount.  While the Price Schedule provides minimum discount levels payable this year, it is possible the company may elect to make payments higher than those stated in that schedule.  If you still have questions our Consumer Services personnel would be happy to assist and can be contacted on (03) 577 7007