Marlborough Lines Limited

The company is 100% owned by the Marlborough Electric Power Trust.[1]

The company operates a contracting division, Marlborough Lines Contracting, which specialises in substation and line construction, cable installation, and the maintenance and operation of generation and electricity networks.

Marlborough Lines has a 50% shareholding in Nelson Electricity, the distribution company that serves Nelson city.[2]

Marlborough Lines was previously a majority shareholder in OtagoNet, the lines business supplying most of rural Otago, but sold their 51% shareholding in September 2014 for $153 million.[3][4]

In September 2019, it was announced that Chief Executive Ken Forrest, who had been with the company for 39 years, was to retire at the end of the year. [5] On 10 January 2020, the Chair of the Board announced that Tim Cosgrove had been appointed as the new Chief Executive, to commence in early April.[6]

As a natural monopoly lines business, Marlborough Lines is subject to regulation under the Commerce Act 1986. However, as Marlborough Lines is 100% owned by a consumer trust, it is not subject to price-quality regulation, but is subject to Information Disclosure regulation. [7] The Commerce Commission publishes a wide range of Information Disclosure data provided by Marlborough Lines.[8]

The Marlborough Electric Power Board (MEPB) was established on 25 October 1923, with the responsibility to supply Blenheim borough, Marlborough and Awatere counties with electricity. The Havelock Town Board and Picton Borough Council had set up their own electricity supplies in 1917 and joined the MEPB in 1926 and 1947 respectively.[9]

The MEPB supplied its first electricity on 6 August 1927 with the commissioning of the 1 MW Waihopai dam, 40 km southwest of Blenheim. Electricity from the dam was transmitted at 33,000 volts to substations at Renwick, Springlands (for Blenheim), and Seddon. Electricity was distributed at 6,600 volts in Blenheim and 11,000 volts in other areas.[10]

The MEPB commissioned two diesel generators at Springlands in 1930 and 1937 to supplement the supply from Waihopai.[11] In January 1945, a 66,000-volt transmission line from Springlands to Stoke was completed, connecting the MEPB to Nelson and onward to the Cobb Power Station.[12] The combined Nelson-Marlborough grid was connected to the West Coast and onward to the rest of the South Island in 1956, following the completion of the Inangahua to Stoke 66,000-volt transmission line.

In 1992, the passing of the Energy Companies Act required that the various franchised electricity distribution and retailing organisations then operating in New Zealand become commercial power companies with a responsibility to operate as a successful business and have regard to the efficient utilisation of energy. The Marlborough Electric Power Board then became Marlborough Electric – one of 35 integrated electricity businesses around New Zealand. At that time Marlborough Electric was one of a small number of electricity companies who also operated their own generation business, and produced some 26% of Marlborough's electricity requirement.

The Electricity Industry Reform Act was passed in 1998, and this required that all electricity companies be split into either the lines (network) business or the supply business (generating and/or selling electricity) by 1 April 1999. The generation and retail businesses of Marlborough Electric were sold to TrustPower, and from April 1999 Marlborough Lines was established to focus on the operation and maintenance of the distribution lines network.[13]

The Marlborough Lines distribution network consists of approximately 3,400 km of lines, supplying approximately 25,000 customers.[14] Towns covered by the network include Blenheim, Picton, Renwick, Seddon and Havelock.

The supply of electricity to Marlborough was initially dependent on a small hydro station at Waihopai. In 1930, a diesel generator was established at Springlands in Blenheim to provide backup power when hydrogeneration was not available. A detailed story and pictures of the diesel generator have been published in a history of the original manufacturer, Paxmans of Colchester, England.[15]

A further generator set was installed in 1937. After Marlborough was connected to the national grid, the generators need was greatly reduced and were relegated to reserve use. They were last used for generation on 22 June 1992, during that year's nationwide power shortages. These generators have been preserved by Marlborough Lines as part of the engineering heritage of electricity supply in the region.[11]

In 2015, Marlborough Lines purchased an 80% shareholding in a local vineyard, Yealands Wine Group, for $89 million. The sale allowed owner Peter Yealands to retain 15 per cent of the company he founded in 2008. Critics questioned whether an electricity lines company, as a regulated natural monopoly, had the skills required to produce, process and market wine internationally in a competitive and high risk industry. The managing director of Marlborough Lines, Ken Forrest said the Marlborough public will get a return better than if the cash remained in the bank.[16]

On 2 July 2018, a subsidiary of Marlborough Lines acquired the last 14 per cent of Yealands Wine Group it did not already own from an entity controlled by Peter Yealands. On the same day, Peter Yealands quit as a director of Yealands Wine Group.[17]

Months after he quit the company, a suppression order lifted, revealing Peter Yealands had been prosecuted along with two former senior staff for covering up the addition of sugar to post-fermentation wine that was destined for Europe. In November 2018, Peter Yealands appeared at the Blenheim District Court to face charges related to the falsification of records and export certification documents. Months earlier, Marlborough Lines reached a settlement under which it agreed not to sue him, even though the company says Peter Yealands did not tell it about the activity before it paid $85 million for control of the company. The settlement also saw Peter Yealands paid $23m for his remaining shares in the company.[16]

Marlborough Lines is the principal sponsor of a Sports and Events Centre known as Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000. The stadium is adjacent to the Marlborough District Council's existing Aquatic Centre in central Blenheim.[18] The company also sponsors a science and technology fair in Marlborough.[19]

• Marlborough Lines Contracting division
• Southern Lines Limited (investment holding company)

• Electricity sector in New Zealand
• Yealands Estate

• Marlborough Lines website
• Marlborough Electric Power Trust