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The electricity sector in New Zealand uses mainly renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. 75% of energy for electricity generation is from renewable sources, making New Zealand one of the lowest carbon dioxide emitting countries in terms of electricity generation. Electricity demand has grown by an average of 2.1% per year from 1974 to 2010 and decreased by 1.2% from 2010 to 2013.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Energy in New Zealand )〕 Despite being slightly above global average in the list of countries by energy intensity, New Zealand has been called one of the least energy efficient countries in the OECD when comparing economic output against electricity consumption.〔 Regulation of the electricity market is the responsibility of the Electricity Authority (formerly the Electricity Commission). Electricity lines businesses, including Transpower and the distribution lines companies, are regulated by the Commerce Commission. Control is also exerted by the Minister of Energy in the New Zealand Cabinet, though the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises and the Minister for Climate Change also have some powers by virtue of their positions and policy influence in the government. ==History== Initial use of electricity in New Zealand was associated with mining. The first industrial hydro-electric power plant was established at Bullendale in Otago in 1885, to provide power for a 20 stamp battery at the Phoenix mine. The plant used water from the nearby Skippers Creek, a tributary of the Shotover River.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Phoenix Mine Hydro Electric Plant Site )〕 Reefton on the West Coast became the first electrified city in 1888 after the Reefton Power Station was commissioned, while the first sizable power station was built for the Waihi gold mines at Horahora on the Waikato River. This set a precedent which was to dominate New Zealand's electricity generation, with hydropower becoming and remaining the dominant source. In 1930, the percentage was at 92%.〔''New Zealand Historical Atlas'' - McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 88〕 While industrial use quickly took off, it was only government programmes in the first two thirds of the 20th century that caused private demand to climb strongly as well. Rural areas were particular beneficiaries of subsidies for electrical grid systems, where supply was provided to create demand, with the intention of modernising the countryside. The results were notable - in the 1920s, electricity use increased at a rate of 22% per year. In fact, the 'load building' programmes were so successful that shortages started to occur from 1936 on, though a large number of new power stations built in the 1950s enabled supply to catch up again.〔 After the massive construction programmes had created a substantial supply of energy not dependent on international fossil fuel prices, New Zealand became less frugal with its energy use. While in 1978, its energy consumption (as expressed against economic output) hovered around the average of all OECD countries, during the 1980s New Zealand dropped far behind, increasing its energy use per economic unit by over 25%, while other nations slowly reduced their energy usage levels. Based on this economic comparison, in 1991 it was the second-least energy-efficient country out of 41 OECD countries.〔''New Zealand Historical Atlas'' - McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 98〕 All of the government's energy assets originally came under the Public Works Department. From 1946, the management of generation and transmission came under a new department, the State Hydro-Electric Department (SHD), renamed in 1958 as the New Zealand Electricity Department (NZED). In 1978, the Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy assumed responsibility for electricity generation, transmission, policy advice and regulation.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Background to Governance and Regulation, Electricity Authority )〕 Distribution and retailing was the responsibility of local electric power boards (EPBs) or municipal electricity departments (MEDs). New Zealand's electrical energy generation, previously state-owned as in most countries, was corporatised, deregulated and partly sold off over the last two decades of the twentieth century, following a model typical in the Western world. However, much of the generation and retail sectors, as well as the entire transmission sector, remains under government ownership as state-owned enterprises. The Fourth Labour Government corporatised the Electricity Division as a State Owned Enterprise in 1987, as the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ), which traded for a period as Electricorp. The Fourth National Government went further with the Energy Companies Act 1992, requiring EPBs and MEDs to become commercial companies in charge of distribution and retailing. In 1994, ECNZ's transmission business was split off as Transpower. In 1996, ECNZ was split again, with a new separate generation business, Contact Energy, being formed. The Fourth National Government privatised Contact Energy in 1999. From 1 April 1999, the remainder of ECNZ was split again, with the major assets formed into three new state-owned enterprises (Mighty River Power, Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy) and with the minor assets being sold off.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Annual Report 1999 )〕 At the same time, local power companies were required to separate distribution and retailing, with the retail side of the business sold off, mainly to generation companies. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Electricity sector in New Zealand」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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