Alpine Energy and Aurora Energy explore combining operations

Wednesday, 17 December 2025

Two South Island lines companies have announced they are exploring options to combine their operations with the aim of better serving their customers.

South Canterbury’s Alpine Energy and Otago’s Aurora Energy issued a joint statement on Wednesday announcing that they are exploring options for shared operations.

Aurora Energy owns and operates a network that delivers electricity to about 96,000 customers across Dunedin, Central Otago and the Queenstown-Lakes District, while Alpine Energy distributes to about 34,000 customers across South Canterbury.

Collectively, the two companies service more than 20% of the South Island’s electricity customers.

In the joint statement, the companies announced they had entered into a Heads of Agreement to work together, and the boards had established a joint steering group to recommend how they would integrate their operations.

“Both companies are facing similar challenges as the energy system evolves,” the statement said.

“Rather than investing separately in the same new skills, systems, capability and capacity, they are choosing to work together to combine their operations to deliver better outcomes for customers.

“These discussions began earlier in the year but deliver to the Minister of Energy’s call for deeper collaboration and integration across the electricity distribution sector to lift the sector’s performance and better manage future cost pressures.”

Aurora Energy chairperson Steve Thompson said the partnership reflected a proactive leadership approach to future challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

“The energy sector is changing rapidly,” Thompson said.

“Working together gives us a real opportunity to share strengths, drive efficiencies, and create the scale needed to innovate and deliver better outcomes for consumers.

“It will also open greater opportunities for our people across both businesses.”

Thompson said the companies chose to work as partners because they shared a “clear alignment of purpose, values, and ambition for the future of the South Island’s electricity networks”.

Alpine Energy chairperson Tony King said collaboration, and the pursuit of operational integration, would ensure regional networks were prepared for the future.

“By combining our strengths, we can improve performance today and prepare our networks for tomorrow,” King said.

“This is about strengthening our regions and ensuring we have the scale and capability our communities will need in the years ahead. This agreement puts us on a path to achieve this.”

Alpine Energy is owned by Timaru District Holdings Limited (47.5%), LineTrust South Canterbury (40%), Waimate District Council (7.54%) and the Mackenzie District Council (4.96%).

Aurora Energy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dunedin City Holdings Limited, which was owned by the Dunedin City Council.

Waimate District Council chief executive Stuart Duncan said shareholders were briefed by King on Tuesday.

“WDC is very supportive of the company investigating opportunities to optimise its operations,” Duncan said.

“It’s early days, and the details of how this might work have not yet been determined.

“The focus at this stage is on assessing whether combining certain service functions could deliver benefits without compromising service quality for either community.”

When asked if the council had any concerns regarding the move, Duncan said Alpine Energy had a capable board and negotiations were preliminary.

Duncan said the council would continue to engage with Alpine Energy as discussions progressed.

LineTrust South Canterbury chairperson Mike Downes said details of how the agreement would work had not been established as it was “very early days’’.

“Both communities face similar challenges with respect to energy, and combining certain operations could deliver better outcomes for customers in both,’’ Downes said.

He said the trust “fully supports’’ Alpine Energy’s endeavours to improve operational efficiencies.

“Improving operational efficiencies for both companies, with possible flow-on benefits for consumers, has huge merit,’’ he said.

He said, at this stage, the trust did not have any concerns around the idea but details were lacking at this stage as to what the agreement would mean for it, if any.

Timaru District Holdings Limited general manager Frazer Munro said it had also been briefed.

The Mackenzie District Council has been approached for comment.