Top Energy lines team tops the country in national challenge

Top Energy’s winning line mechanics - Lance Kahotea, Karl Wilson, Simon Bayliss, Michael Mitchell and Michael Kava.

It was a challenging three days, and the competition was tough, but the Top Energy team won the overall Line Mechanics award at the Connexis Annual Connection.

The event was held in Te Awamutu recently and Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw is exceedingly proud of the crew of line mechanics and one of its trainees who through grit and determination excelled in a very competitive New Zealand-wide industry field.

The three-day competition highlights the unique skills and character required to keep the lights on and the country connected.

Shaw said the competition underscores the importance of electricity safety and encourages young people to explore careers in the electricity supply industry.

‘’We have always known that we have a pool of skilled, hardworking and talented teams working on our network. It is very satisfying that the rest of the country now knows about it too.”

Shaw spoke of the team effort required to achieve such an outstanding result, which also extended to the Safety Award.

‘’Special mention goes to Michael Mitchell, who won the Ross Archer Memorial Award for best trainee.’’

The winning team were Lance Kahotea, Karl Wilson, Simon Bayliss, Mitchell and Michael Kava.

First established in 1935, Top Energy is owned by its power consumers. Top Energy’s shares are held by the Top Energy Consumer Trust (formerly the Bay of Islands Electric Power Trust) on behalf of electricity consumers in the region.

Top Energy is a major contributor to the community’s financial wellbeing, managing assets of over $750 million and employing over 180 staff.

By paying salaries and wages and buying goods and services from local businesses, the company pumps nearly $30m each year into the local economy. In addition, over $10m is paid out annually to local power consumers, through a line charge discount and dividend. This year’s payout gave out credits of $300.

Top Energy’s electricity network covers some 6822 square kilometres of the northern most part of New Zealand’s North Island.

Its network spans 4500 kilometres of overhead and underground electricity lines and cables and services over 34,000 power consumers in the Far North region from northern Hūkerenui to Cape Reinga.

Over the next 10 years, the company plans a further $226m investment to improve the safety, security, and reliability of our electricity supply in the Far North.

This includes upgrading the Wiroa substation 33kV to 110kV; a new submarine cable to the Russell peninsula giving the area an alternative electricity supply route; an 11kV feeder protection automation and interconnection for faster outage resolution and ongoing upgrades and maintenance of the 33kV and 11kV networks.

Top Energy said the work will future-proof its network to accommodate the growth in distributed renewable generation and electric vehicle charging expected in coming years.