Can ComCom greenlight Contact’s takeover of Manawa?

Manawa Energy owns 25 small hydro stations. Source: Manawa Energy.

A couple of weeks out from the Commerce Commission announcing its decision on whether Contact Energy can take over Manawa Energy, it’s still looking dicey as to whether the competition regulator will flash the green light.

We already know that ComCom is looking at ways of lessening the market power of the four large gentailers, Contact, Meridian Energy, Mercury NZ and Genesis Energy through the use of regulation and mandatory disclosure to force them to treat third-party retailers the same as they treat their own retail customers.

In late February, ComCom’s energy competition task force, which includes representatives from the Electricity Authority, said proposed mandatory non-discrimination obligations “can be implemented in months rather than years,” unlike other measures it considered.

“Industry consultation has not yielded any evidence to contradict our view that the status-quo may be stifling competition,” the task force said.