On 5 May 2015, Gas Industry Co (GIC) notified industry stakeholders of its receipt of the Maui Pipeline Operating Code (MPOC) Amendment Process Change Request (APCR) from Mighty River Power (MRP).
In a letter dated 24 April 2015, Mighty River Power (MRP) requested that GIC consider and make a recommendation on proposed changes to the MPOC. The proposed changes relate to the process for making amendments to the MPOC. MRP says that its APCR ‘… is designed to promote an inclusive and collaborative change process as opposed to the current arrangement which can become adversarial. ‘Broadly, the proposal aims to align the MPOC code change processes with the process recently introduced into the Vector Transmission code (VTC).
GIC’s role in processing code change requests under s29.4 of the MPOC is to make a written recommendation, following appropriate Gas industry consultation, supporting or not supporting the Change Request. Our Memorandum of Understanding with MDL (MOU) then sets out the process that the Company ‘intends to follow in connection with its recommendation’.
In its 5 May notification, GIC identified a potential conflict of interest, including because the APCR uniquely requires GIC to opine on its own role under the MPOC. GIC has now reviewed its legal position and how to address the potential conflict. GIC has discussed its next steps with both MRP, the applicant, and MDL, both of whom requested that GIC continue to process the application. We sought and considered their comments on our proposed process.
GIC will, in this case, supplement its normal process with an independent report on its recommendation by an Independent Expert, and has appointed former High Court judge Sir John Hansen to that role. Sir John also performs the role of the Rulings Panel under the Gas Governance (Compliance) Regulations 2008. GIC will remain responsible for administering the process, including consultation, and preparing the draft and final recommendation documents, including for reviewing by the Independent Expert. Those draft and final recommendations and Independent Expert reports will be published together The final recommendation ‘supporting’ or ‘not supporting’ the APCR will remain with GIC, through its Independent Directors Committee.
Gas Industry Co commenced this process in the usual way by publishing the change request (available below in Related Documents) and invited submissions, which closed on Tuesday 14 July 2015.
Gas Industry Co will begin work on a Submissions Analysis to be released with the Draft Recommendation.
The Indicative Timetable is:
| What | Tentative Date |
| Call for initial submissions | Tuesday 16 June 2015 |
| Submissions on APCR close | Tuesday 14 July 2015 |
| GIC issues and requests submissions on its Draft Recommendation | Tuesday 11 August 2015 |
| Submissions on Draft Recommendation close | Tuesday 8 September 2015 |
| Final Recommendation released | Tuesday 6 October 2015 |