Orion New Zealand Limited (Orion) is an electricity distribution company, based in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The company was formed under its current name in December 1998. Orion is owned by Christchurch City Council (89.3%) and Selwyn District Council (10.7%). In 2013, Orion posted a 49mprofit,with32m in dividends going to the shareholding councils. Its last CEO was Roger Sutton, who resigned to become CEO of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority on 13 June 2011.
Orion is responsible for electricity distribution in Christchurch and the Selwyn District, bounded to the north and south by the Waimakariri and Rakaia Rivers and to the east and west by the Southern Alps and the Pacific Ocean respectively. Within this region, it delivers 3,165 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year to 190,000 customers.
Prior to 1989, electricity distribution and retailing in Christchurch and Selwyn was the responsibility of four entities: the Christchurch City Council Municipal Electricity Department (MED), Riccarton Electricity, the Port Hills Energy Authority, and the Central Canterbury Electric Power Board. In 1989, all four companies entered a joint venture, named Southpower.
The 1998 electricity sector reforms required all electricity companies to separate their distribution and retailing businesses. Southpower retained its distribution business and sold its retail business to Meridian Energy. In December 1998, the lines business was renamed Orion New Zealand.
The Orion network consists of over of lines and cables, 52 zone substations, 10,972 distribution substations and 10,828 transformers. Orion takes power from seven Transpower grid exit points (from east to west): Bromley, Islington, Kimberley, Hororata, Coleridge, Castle Hill and Arthur's Pass. The majority of Christchurch is served by a 66 kV subtransmission network and an 11 kV distribution network. Some western parts of Christchurch, Banks Peninsula and the Selwyn district are served by a mixture of 66 kV and 33 kV subtransmission and 11 kV distribution.
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