distribution predecessor ashburton electric power board founded 1995 1995 headquarters ashburton new zealand area served ashburton and surrounding district key people ian cullimore chair shareholders committee gary leech chair board of directors gordon guthrie general manager number of employees 101 website eanetworks.co.nz electricity ashburton limited trading as ea networks is a co operatively owned electricity distribution company based in ashburton new zealand . the company was formed as electricity ashburton in 1995 after a reorganisation of the ashburton electric power board into a commercial company . it adopted its current trading name ea networks in late 2012 . it is unique among new zealand electricity distribution companies in that it is the only company that is a cooperative whereby shares in the company are owned by electricity consumers connected to its network . 1 ea networks owns and operates the subtransmission and distribution network in the ashburton district also known as mid canterbury in the south island . outside the ashburton township pop . 17 700 most of the district is rural with a high usage of irrigation with the associated water pumps responsible for more than 85 percent of ea networks peak summer demand . 2 ea networks also owns a fibre optic cable network interconnecting its zone substations which also offers broadband internet services to customers along the cable network . it also in a joint venture with barrhill chertsey irrigation regarding an irrigation project covering 133 square kilometres 51 sq mi of farmland in the north eastern ashburton district . 3 contents 1 history 2 corporate 3 electricity network 3.1 network statistics 3.2 network developments 4 references 5 external links history edit reticulated electricity first arrived in ashburton in 1908 when private company craddock & co established a 220 volt direct current electricity network to supply ashburton township . the electricity was supplied from a 30 kw generator driven a steam traction engine . a network of 3300 volt and 230 400 volt alternating current lines were later established to supply the township . 2 in 1923 the ashburton electric power board aepb was established to operate the distribution network in the ashburton area taking over from the private companies and establishing a district wide network of 6.6 kv and 11kv distribution lines to replace the dc and 3.3 kv lines . in 1924 the aepb s network was connected to the national grid and coleridge power station when a 110 11 kv substation was established in central ashburton . a second connection to the national grid was later established near methven . after the second world war the aepb established a production facility and reticulation network to supply coal gas to ashburton township and was subsequently renamed the ashburton electric power and gas board . the coal gas system was disestablished in 1973 when it became uneconomical and the board reverted to its original name . 2 by the early 1960s the need for a sub transmission network became apparent and in 1967 the aepb established its first 33 kv subtransmission lines and zone substations supplied by three 11 33 kv step up transformers at ashburton substation . in 1971 the last 6.6 kv lines were converted to 11 kv . as irrigation loads increased and the subtransmission network was extended into the 1980s two 110 33 kv grid connections were established at ashburton and cairnbrae near methven to supply the network . 2 the aepb also established a 1.8 mw hydroelectric power station at montalto in 1982 . 4 in the late 1980s and early 1990s transpower then a division of the electricity corporation went about a rationalisation of older transmission lines in the south island and as a result dismantled the 110 kv lines between hororata and temuka which supplied ashburton . as a result a new 220 33 kv grid connection was established in 1992 under the islington bromley to twizel 220 kv lines at elgin 7 km south east of ashburton township to supply the aepb network in the ashburton area . 2 also in 1992 the fourth national government passed the energy companies act which required electric power boards to be reformed to become commercial power companies . it was decided by the aepb to become a cooperatively owned company and in 1995 became electricity ashburton limited . electricity ashburton was subsequently responsible for subtransmission distribution and retailing in the ashburton district as well as the montalto power station . 2 by 1997 the huge increase in irrigation loads were putting a strain on the 33 and 11 kv lines . to alleviate the issue electricity ashburton decided to convert the 33 kv subtransmission network to 66 kv and to convert the rural 11 kv distribution network to 22 kv the urban distribution networks in ashburton and methven would remain at 11 kv due to the cost of replacing a large network of underground cables . electricity ashburton also took the opportunity to connect the electricity corporation s 26 mw highbank hydro power station to its network instead of to transpower s national grid and to relinquish the cairnbrae grid exit point and connect its entire network through the grid exit point at elgin . 2 in 1998 the fourth national government reformed the electricity sector requiring electricity companies to split their lines and supply businesses and to sell off one of them . as a result electricity ashburton decided to concentrate on the distribution business and sold its retail base and the montalto power station to tauranga based generator retailer trustpower in april 1999 . as of april 2012 electricity ashburton has converted the majority of its sub transmission network to 66 kv and has converted a significant portion of its rural distribution network to 22 kv . it plans to convert the last sub transmission line to 66 kv by 2019 . 2 corporate edit ea networks is a cooperative company in which company shares are owned by consumers connected to the network . there are 30.07 million shares issued in the company 28.75 million are owned by the ashburton district council in a non rebate and non voting form . the remaining 1.28 million are owned by consumers each owning 100 shares in the company regardless of how many connections to the network they have or how much electricity they use . around 99 percent of consumers are also shareholders . dividends from the shares are paid out in proportion to the amount of line charges each consumer pays . 5 each shareholder gets one vote in the election of the shareholders committee . the shareholders committee is made up of seven members four elected by the shareholders and three appointed by the ashburton district council ; and is responsible for representing the shareholders monitoring and reporting of the company s performance and appointing the board of directors . the board of directors has five members and is responsible for the corporate governance of the company . 5 electricity network edit ea network s service area the ashburton district within the south island note the boundaries pictured are of territorial authorities not distribution companies . ea networks subtransmission and distribution network covers the ashburton district a 6 187 km2 2 389 sq mi area of the south island bounded by the rakaia river in the north the rangitata river to the south and the pacific ocean to the east . the area is bound by the southern alps in the west but only three distribution lines extend beyond the foothills of the southern alps all along river gorges . the electricity network consists of 446 km 277 mi of sub transmission lines 2 120 km 1 320 mi of high voltage distribution lines and 632 km 393 mi of low voltage distribution lines and street light circuits . 2 there are 17 800 customers connected to the network the largest of which include a plastics manufacturer rx plastics two meat processing plants silver fern farms at fairton and canterbury meat packers at seafield a vegetable processing plant talley s at fairton a skifield mount hutt and a large water pumping station at highbank taking water from the rakaia river into the rangitata diversion irrigation race . there are three major hydroelectric power generators connected to the network highbank 26 mw montalto 1.8 mw and cleardale 1.0 mw . the network is summer peaking with peak demand up to 149 mw in summer when irrigation is in use and up to 62 mw in winter . in the year to 31 march 2012 electricity ashburton delivered 576 gwh of to consumers . 2 ea networks is supplied electricity from the national grid from transpower s ashburton substation located at elgin 7 km south east of ashburton 43 56 31 s 171 48 05 e 43.94197 s 171.80148 e 43.94197 ; 171.80148 transpower ashburton substation . electricity is supplied from the national grid at two voltages 33 kv and 66 kv . a 33 66 kv transformer at ea networks elgin zone substation located next to transpower s substation provides a connection between the two supplies . 2 the 33 kv supply from elgin is used to supply the entire ashburton township from the ashburton zone substation on the site of the former transpower 110 kv ashburton substation and northtown substation as well as three major industrial customers at fairton and seafield . the 66 kv supply from elgin is used to supply the remainder of the district including the town of rakaia from overdale zone substation and methven from methven 66kv and methven 33kv zone substations . at the methven 66 kv zone substation electricity is stepped down from 66 kv to 33 kv to supply subtransmission lines to mount hutt and along the foothills to mount somers and montalto . 2 network statistics edit ea networks statistics as of 31 march 2015 6 parameter value total circuit length 3 198 km 1 987 mi 66 kv subtransmission 287 km 178 mi 33 kv subtransmission 109 km 68 mi 22 kv distribution 1 198 km 744 mi 11 kv distribution 997 km 620 mi low voltage 400 v distribution 421 km 262 mi street lighting 271 km 168 mi customer connections 18 419 system maximum demand 168 mw system electricity delivered 666 gwh network developments edit much of ea networks work is associated with converting the subtransmission network to 66 kv and the rural distribution network to 22 kv . in 2011 it completed the conversion of lagmhor zone substation west of ashburton and the lagmhor to elgin subtransmission line to 66 kv thereby completing a second connection to the southern half of its 66 kv network and in the process decommissioned three old 33 kv zone substations and their associated subtransmission lines . 2 ea networks as of 2012 is in the process of converting northtown zone substation and the northtown to elgin subtransmission cable to 66 kv and building a new line north from northtown to fairton and reconfiguring the 66 kv near there to provide a third 66 kv line to the northern half of the 66 kv network . the project was expected to be completed by 2012 but was delayed as the preferred 66 kv line route between northtown and fairton along the main south rail line couldn t be agreed to and ea networks had to resort to rebuilding an existing 33 11 kv line along state highway 1 to a 66 33 kv line and install an 11 kv underground cable . 2 ea networks is also planning to construct new 66 kv zone substations adjacent to the existing 33 kv ashburton and seafield zone substations to secure supply to the distribution network in those areas and prepare for eventual 66 kv conversion . work is also underway in rebuilding existing 33 kv and rural 11 kv lines to be capable of 66 kv and 22 kv operation for when conversion of those lines occur . 2 as conversion to 66 kv