Shareholder information
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EA Networks Shareholders
EA Networks is your local lines company, responsible for the development and maintenance of lines, enabling electricity to be delivered to and shared between homes, businesses and farms across Mid Canterbury.
As a co-operative company, our customers are our shareholders. When you first connect to EA Networks via an electricity retailer, you are automatically allocated 100 shares in the company. Each share carries a nominal value of $1, and your maximum shareholding value can reach 100 shares (a total of $100).
We don’t ask you to pay for your shares directly. Instead, we first apply discount credits to pay off the $100 shareholding. Once the full value of your shares has been paid, any further discount is credited directly to your retail power account.
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Being a shareholder
Being a shareholder provides you with the opportunity to get involved in the way we operate our business. You can attend our general meetings, nominate and vote for representatives on the shareholders’ committee, or run for a position on the committee yourself.
Even though you don’t need to pay anything, becoming a shareholder in our cooperative is effectively an investment, and to meet disclosure regulations, you can find our Product Disclosure Statement here. Additional information about EA Networks, including our audited financial statements, can be found here.
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Consumer discount
As a consumer-owned co-operative, we currently allocate a discount to customers connected to our network to ensure funds are retained within our local community. The amount of the discount is calculated each year, and we allocate this to customers in proportion to the distribution charges that we have applied for their connections.
You can find out about the current financial year's discount and how it’s calculated in our Consumer Discount Methodology.
FAQ
Do I have to be a shareholder?
No. You can opt out of being a shareholder. You will still receive our annual discounts, but you will relinquish your shareholding, and we will refund to you the value of any shares that have already been paid off.
I’ve received two letters with different shareholder numbers, why?
Our system tries to recognise situations where the same customer has more than one electricity supply. Sometimes it is difficult to tell that the customers with two or more accounts are the same, and we set up separate shareholders. In these situations we end up deducting too much for shares when we could be providing a bigger discount. If you have received more than one letter and think they should be combined, give us a call on the number below and we will fix this.
How do I qualify for a discount?
We assess the distribution charges that we have applied for each connection where you have been a customer during the year to 28 / 29 February. Then, as long as you were still a customer with a current power account on 28 / 29 February, we calculate a share of the total discount pool based on those distribution charges.
What if I have several connections, or have shifted during the year?
To ensure you get the discount on all distribution charges, we add up the charges that we have applied for all your connections throughout the year, including where you might have been a customer for less than the full year. We then apply this total discount against the connections where you are the customer on 28 / 29 February (each year) in proportion to the charges at those connections.
How do I receive my discount?
We pay the discount to your electricity retailer and ask them to credit the amount to your power account. There is a credit for each ICP/connection that you have at the end of February. Discounts are usually applied in retail invoices sent out in March and April, but it can take a bit longer if you change retailers.
What happens to my shares when I leave the district?
When we can see that you have signed out of a power account and not signed into a new one within EA Networks’ area, we initiate a process to refund the shares. Sometimes it is hard for us to track customers down, and you can help us by getting in touch when you no longer have a power account.
What about tax?
The IRD has confirmed in a product ruling that the consumer discount does not amount to a taxable dividend (see product ruling number BR PRD 24/01).