Entrust, formerly named Auckland Energy Consumer Trust (AECT) prior to June 2016, is a trust for electricity consumers in Auckland, New Zealand. Formed in 1993 as sole owner of the original Mercury Energy Limited, it is now majority owner of electricity and gas distributor Vector Limited, a child of the original Mercury, the other child being the retailing division of Mercury Energy. The Trust will be wound up in 2073 (80 years after its formation) and its assets transferred to the local government authority or authorities in the Trust district (at present this would be Auckland Council). There have been calls for the Trust to be wound up sooner.

AECT owned 75.1% of the shares in Vector in 2015, worth about $2 billion. It holds the shares on behalf of Vector's 300,000 customers and distributes dividends from Vector to its customers. The remaining 24.9% of Vector shares are traded on the NZX Main Board stock exchange.

As part of electricity industry reforms in 1993, the consumer-owned Auckland Electric Power Board became Mercury Energy Limited and AECT was set up to own it, keeping control in the hands of electricity consumers. Similar trusts were established elsewhere in the country. Mercury was the electricity distributor and retailer for Auckland, Manukau and Papakura. In 1998 the government split the electricity sector into distributors (lines companies) and retailers, and accordingly Mercury was split. The retail business was sold to Mighty River Power and the lines business being kept and renamed Vector Limited. AECT was the sole owner of Vector until 2005, when it allowed Vector to make a public float of 24.9% of its shares to raise capital to buy gas company NGC Holdings.

Election of trustees

The trust is run by five trustees elected using the plurality-at-large method every three years in line with the requirements of the Trust Deed. Trustees are electricity customers who live in the Trust area.

The right-leaning C & R – Communities and Residents ticket has dominated election results for the five trust seats in recent years, and under its previous names Citizens & Ratepayers NOW and Citizens & Ratepayers in earlier years. The ticket has long been aligned with the National Party.

In 1997 the first and last Independent Trustee, Victoria Carter was elected to the Board. In 1998, the lights went out for six weeks in Auckland. The Government called for an enquiry.

2003 election 2003 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes Citizens & Ratepayers NOW John Collinge 26,049 Citizens & Ratepayers NOW Michael Buczkowski 24,567 Citizens & Ratepayers NOW Karen Sherry 22,830 Citizens & Ratepayers NOW Warren Kyd 21,962 Powerlynk Shale Chambers 20,822

2006 election 2006 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes Citizens & Ratepayers NOW Karen Sherry 22,357 Citizens & Ratepayers NOW Michael Buczkowski 20,129 Citizens & Ratepayers NOW Warren Kyd 19,742 Powerlynk Shale Chambers 18,563 Citizens & Ratepayers NOW James Carmichael 16,829

2009 election 2009 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes Citizens & Ratepayers Karen Sherry 22,752 Citizens & Ratepayers Warren Kyd 22,129 Citizens & Ratepayers Michael Buczkowski 21,665 Citizens & Ratepayers James Carmichael 21,140 Citizens & Ratepayers William Cairns 16,793

2012 election 2012 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes C & R – Communities and Residents Karen Sherry 27,483 C & R – Communities and Residents Michael Buczkowski 24,217 C & R – Communities and Residents Warren Kyd 23,388 C & R – Communities and Residents James Carmichael 23,355 C & R – Communities and Residents William Cairns 21,665

2015 election 2015 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes C & R – Communities and Residents Karen Sherry 20,968 C & R – Communities and Residents Michael Buczkowski 19,761 C & R – Communities and Residents James Carmichael 19,390 C & R – Communities and Residents William Cairns 17,824 C & R – Communities and Residents Paul Hutchison 16,942

2018 election 2018 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes C & R – Communities and Residents Karen Sherry 23,958 C & R – Communities and Residents Alastair Bell 21,198 C & R – Communities and Residents Michael Buczkowski 19,645 C & R – Communities and Residents Paul Hutchison 19,533 C & R – Communities and Residents William Cairns 18,730

2021 election 2021 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes C & R – Communities and Residents Alastair Bell 16,403 C & R – Communities and Residents Michael Buczkowski 15,533 C & R – Communities and Residents Denise Lee 15,274 C & R – Communities and Residents Paul Hutchison 13,417 C & R – Communities and Residents William Cairns 11,892

2024 election 2024 trustee election results for the five seats on the trust: Affiliation Name Votes C & R – Communities and Residents Alastair Bell 17,232 C & R – Communities and Residents Rachel Langton 15,870 C & R – Communities and Residents Denise Lee 15,479 C & R – Communities and Residents Paul Hutchison 15,325 C & R – Communities and Residents Angus Ogilvie 12,605

See also New Zealand electricity market

References

External links Entrust Website