By JAMES GARDINER
Power company chiefs have been warned by the Commerce Commission to tread warily when they meet in Wellington today - or risk breaking the law.
The private meeting, which excludes consumer representatives, was revealed by the Herald on Monday as potentially at odds with Commerce Act provisions designed to protect the public from anti-competitive behaviour.
The commission, which oversees competition law and prosecutes breaches, shares the concerns of consumer groups about what the chief executives of line and energy companies might discuss.
In a letter to power companies yesterday, commission investigator David Ainsworth advised those attending to first obtain legal advice.
The Herald understands some companies are now so worried they intend taking lawyers with them to the meeting.
Mr Ainsworth said electricity law, which forced line network companies to be completely separate from generators and retailers, might also be breached.
Energy companies, such as Auckland's Mercury, are not allowed to act jointly or in concert with line companies, such as Vector.
The meeting has been convened by state-owned generator-retailer Meridian Energy. The agenda circulated suggests several areas of potential legal peril, including discussion on distribution and transmission pricing and use-of-system agreements.
The Energy Minister, Pete Hodgson, has been advised of the meeting - and is understood to have endorsed it, although no Government officials have been invited. Former minister David Caygill, who chaired the recent ministerial inquiry into the electricity industry, is expected to attend.
Power companies' legal thicket
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