Orion New Zealand Limited

Orion New Zealand Limited (Orion) is an electricity distribution company, based in Christchurch, New Zealand.^[1]

The company was formed under its current name in December 1998.^[2] Orion is owned by Christchurch City Council (89.3%) and Selwyn District Council (10.7%).^[3] In 2013, Orion posted a $49m profit, with $32m in dividends going to the shareholding councils.^[4][5] Its last CEO was Roger Sutton, who resigned to become CEO of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority on 13 June 2011.^[6]

Former Orion Building in Christchurch (since demolished)

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.

Electricity network

The Orion network consists of over 15,000 kilometres (9,300 mi) of lines and cables, 52 zone substations, 10,972 distribution substations and 10,828 transformers. Orion takes power from nine Transpower grid exit points (from east to west): Bromley, Addington, Middleton, Islington, Kimberley, Hororata, Coleridge, Castle Hill and Arthur's Pass. The majority of Christchurch is served by a 66 kV subtransmission network and a 11 kV distribution network. Some western parts of Christchurch, Banks Peninsula and the Selwyn district is served by a mixture of 66 kV and 33 kV subtransmission and 11 kV distribution. As is standard in New Zealand, electricity is delivered to homes at 230/400 volts (phase-to-neutral/phase-to-phase).

Subsidiaries

• Connetics Limited, electrical contracting business^[7]

See also

• Electricity sector in New Zealand

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orion New Zealand Limited.

• Orion website