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Our services/Electricity/Electricity complex connection

Complex connection supply point

After we review your application, we will tell you if it is a complex connection. A complex connection needs a customer works agreement and may also need an easement. Because these connections involve more work, they usually take longer to complete.  

If you need both gas and electricity connections, please request them separately  here.

Apply for a complex connection

Please fill out the below application to start the connection process

Start application
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Pricing

When you add a new connection or upgrade an existing connection on the electricity network, you will pay:

  • Design fee – If the connection request is identified as complex, we will provide an indicative cost. If the customer wishes to proceed to detailed design, a $3,000 + GST design fee will apply. Once the detailed design is accepted, we will provide the final project cost through a Customer Works Agreement (CWA).
  • Price comparison – Once the detailed design is complete and accepted, we will obtain pricing from the Field Service Provider (FSP) assigned to deliver the work. Where available, we can also seek pricing from alternative FSPs so you can compare prices before proceeding.
  • The cost of the lowest-cost connection design – this covers the work needed to connect your property or upgrade your existing connection, based on the lowest-cost design that meets Vector’s network standards.
  • Any customer-selected enhancements – these are optional enhancements you request above the lowest-cost design and will be shown separately in your Customer Works Agreement. For example, this could include requesting a power pole to be removed. 


Connection fee

Development contribution

Assessment fee

Total

Pricing effective from 1 April 2026 (incl. GST)

Priced per job

See table below

Priced per job

Priced per job


Development contribution


Network Tier

Connection type

Amount

($ per icp)

Rate

($ per installed kVA)

Pricing effective from 1 April 2026 (Incl. GST)

Low voltage mains


Residential 0 - 14kVA

Residential 15 - 69kVA

SME 14 - 28kVA

SME 29 - 42kVA

SME 43 - 69kVA

Other low voltage mains

$3,193

$5,339

$3,703

$7,478

$15,274







$264.50

Distribution substation


Priced per job

High voltage feeder


Priced per job

Zone substation


Priced per job

Sub-transmission line


Priced per job


Civil work and traffic management

New electricity connections may require civil work and/or traffic management. You have the option to organise this yourself, using appropriately qualified providers who can meet the relevant standards and requirements. Alternatively, we can arrange it for you through our service providers. We are happy to talk through the options with you during the assessment of your connection request. 

For some complex works that involve critical network infrastructure, we may need to use our specialist contractors to complete parts of the civil work. This ensures the safety and integrity of the network. Where this applies, you cannot, unfortunately, organise those specific aspects independently. If this is the case, we will let you know during the connection process. 

If you choose to organise your own civil works, Vector will need to carry out quality assurance inspections to ensure those works meet the necessary safety and network requirements. A fee applies for this inspection process, which we’ll discuss and confirm with you as part of your connection costs.

Design Fee – We will provide an indicative cost for the requirements based on a desktop assessment and initial checks. If you require a firm design and cost, a design fee of $3,000 + GST will apply.


Refunds

Sometimes the work may cost less than we originally quoted, for example if fewer traffic management days are needed. If this happens, we’ll refund you the difference once the work is complete.


How development contributions relate to network capacity

When you connect to the network or upgrade your connection, you use some of the network’s available capacity.

The network capacity cost is the estimated cost of providing the shared network capacity used or added to support your connection. Your development contribution is the amount you are asked to contribute towards this cost and may be less than the full network capacity cost.

Our approach is that customers creating growth on the network should contribute towards the investment needed to support that growth. How these costs are shared is subject to electricity industry regulation.

For more information about development contributions, network capacity costs and how these are changing, see our FAQs below.

 The nominal capacity increment is the estimated increase in network capacity used to calculate the indicative capacity rates.


Network Tier

Posted capacity rates ($ excl. GST per diversified kVA)

For information purposes

Nominal incremental capacity (installed kVA)


1st April 2026

1st April 2027

1st April 2028

1st April 2029

1st April 2030


Low voltage mains

-

-

-

-

-

-

Distribution substation

$176.67

$180.62

$185.12

$189.95

$195.02

687,891

High voltage feeder

$715.89

$731.92

$750.15

$769.72

$790.28

321,650

Zone substation

$330.38

$337.78

$346.19

$355.22

$364.71

1,427,250

Sub-transmission line

$370.74

$379.05

$388.49

$398.62

$409.27

625,250


Pioneer schemes

A pioneer scheme helps make sure the cost of new electricity infrastructure is shared fairly.

If you’re the first customer to pay for a qualifying network extension, you may receive a refund if other customers later connect to and use that same infrastructure in the future.

Likewise, if you connect later and benefit from infrastructure someone else helped fund, you may need to contribute to these costs.

If a pioneer scheme is relevant to your connection, we will explain this clearly as part of your quote.

The table below shows the pioneer schemes that are currently active:


Pioneer reference

Location

Start date

End Date

Opening value ($)

There is currently no active Pioneer scheme in place


Our process


Process and timelines

The process, costs, and timeframes may vary depending on a number of factors, including:

  • The type of network connection supply point required - which depends on the available capacity
  • The number of connections you require and whether the connections are temporary or permanent
  • The available capacity as well as fuse and phase requirements (your electrician will provide these details)
  • Whether an easement is required to allow gas and electricity equipment owned by Vector to be installed and to remain on private property. An easement provides us with ongoing access and maintenance rights in respect of that equipment. 
  • The conditions of the work site and the complexity of the job 
  • Vector’s current work volumes 
  • When traffic management services are next available (as these are managed by third parties) and the availability of equipment required 
  • Other technical, legal, regulatory and administrative factors (including resource constraints)


Our process


Initiate

Submit your application online when requesting electricity connections. You’ll usually receive an indicative quote within 10 working days

Design

You'll need to pay for the design cost for the job to proceed . We'll usually advise you within 1 week after payment when the design will be completed.

Contract and payment

Once we’ve received design approval and pricing, we'll aim to send you a customer works agreement within 5 working days (that is valid for 45 days). We'll then contact you to schedule the work once the agreement has been signed and payment received .

Build and variations

Work will usually begin approximately 6 weeks after receipt of payment

Completion

When you are ready to liven your connection click here. For subdivisions we will issue a completion certificate once all Vector equipment is tested and livened and we have received and approved a land transfer plan (if required by the easements) 


Information required before you apply

  • Site plan, lot layouts, location of other services including trench profiles
  • Required number of phases and amp size
  • Resource consent information for subdivisions and power pole relocations


FAQs

Please visit orders.vector.co.nz to request the electricity connection and call 0800 22 22 60 to request the gas connection. As these are different connections with different processes, you will need to request these separately.

Every project needs a site-specific design for its electricity and gas supply. If you contact us early in your project, we can assist you with more accurate design and pricing of your electricity and/or gas supply 


Detailed design of a gas or electricity connection is carried out by our service providers which incurs a design fee. Please note that depending on the job, other design related costs may be incurred such as pole calculation, capacity logging, or pilot hole costs. Completing these activities in the design stage provides more cost certainty for the project and reduces potential variations. 

A contribution applies to all customer-initiated projects. Vector’s policy for determining capital contributions can be found here.

The work will be carried out by one of our approved service providers. These service providers have been carefully selected by Vector and work with us to provide all installation and maintenance services on our network. 

Vector usually owns the network equipment up to the point of supply. We are responsible for the ongoing ownership and maintenance of our own assets. Equipment beyond the point of supply is usually installed, owned and maintained by the customer. 

Electricity and gas easements are important because they benefit both Vector and landowners by: 

  1. Protecting a landowner’s safety by formally recording the location of the gas and/or electricity reticulation equipment on their property title. 
  2. Providing us with legal rights to access your property so that we can operate, maintain or replace our equipment. 

Easements are required over installed Vector owned gas and electricity equipment to allow those assets to remain on private property and to provide us with ongoing access rights. 

Vector owned equipment means equipment installed by us as part of our work supplying customers with electricity or gas. This can include pits, poles, lines, cables, fuses and transformers, gas pipes, gas measurement systems, distribution systems and fittings, and other associated equipment. 

Private property means real property that is privately owned and includes privately and jointly owned access roads in subdivisions, Council local purpose reserve or recreation land and Crown land. 

Equipment installed on private property before 1 January 1993 

For electricity and gas equipment installed on private property prior to 1 January 1993, we have existing use rights (which is a statutory right contained in the Electricity Act 1992) and will not usually require an easement unless we need to install new equipment or relocate existing equipment. 

If new equipment is to be installed, we will require an easement over all new equipment together with any existing equipment as it may no longer be protected under the pre-existing statutory use rights. 

We will let you know when an easement is required, and whether this is for new or existing electricity equipment.  Where an easement is required, the obligation to grant an easement will form part of your contract with us to undertake the works. 

We have standard easement terms which grant us necessary rights to access your property to inspect, operate and maintain our equipment.  These must remain standard and unamended, for all properties throughout Auckland, so that our contractors and maintenance team can rely on them. 

To register an easement, following installation of equipment, either we or the customer will organise a survey plan (depending on our contract together) which shows the area that will be granted to Vector for our easement. A legal document called the ‘easement instrument’ is then prepared by our legal team and sent to your solicitor. The registration of the easement on your property title will be processed by us together with your lawyer. 

Substations consist of high voltage switchgear, transformers and low voltage fusing and associated housing. Substation requirements are set out in our standards which are available on request. Details of specific sizes, safety requirements, and other factors will be provided by your Vector contact. 

  • Outdoor substations require you to allocate a suitable area of land on which to install a self-contained substation. 
  • Indoor substations are often needed in high density areas (ie. Auckland’s CBD) and require you to construct and maintain a suitable room. 

You will need to arrange for a registered electrician to specify the type of connection required for your site. Refer to “What information do I need to supply?" above for a breakdown of the information we need from you and your electrician. 


There are many aspects that affect the price you pay for the installation, some of these include: 

  • Complexity of the project (i.e. CBD location; existing services etc.) 
  • Distance from our existing network
  • Type and size of infrastructure required
  • Amount of civil works and/or trenching 
  • Reticulation distances 
  • Compliance costs (i.e. consents, road opening notices, traffic management) 
  • Land base – some areas in Auckland have large areas of volcanic rock which can increase installation costs (if you are able to provide trenches in your development then costs can be kept to a minimum).

If you hit a fibre cable, please call us immediately on 0800 826 436 (select option 1, then select option 2 for Vector Fibre).


A network capacity cost is the estimated cost of providing the shared network capacity used or added to support your new or upgraded connection. This includes infrastructure such as cables, transformers and substations that are shared by many customers.

Your development contribution is the amount you are asked to contribute towards this network capacity cost as part of your connection charge. Your development contribution may be less than the full network capacity cost.

When you connect to the network or upgrade your connection, you use some of the network’s available capacity.

Our approach is that customers creating growth on the network should contribute towards the investment needed to support that growth. This helps ensure there is enough capacity for new homes and businesses to connect as Auckland grows.

Electricity connection charging is subject to electricity industry regulation. This helps ensure the share of network costs paid by new and upgrading customers is appropriate and consistent with how similar connections are treated.

In the future, more network growth may also come from existing customers using more electricity, such as by charging electric vehicles or electrifying their homes and businesses.


Between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027, development contributions will continue to be used to recover a share of network capacity costs, using an approach that is broadly in line with our current method.

From 1 April 2027, new Electricity Authority requirements will change how network capacity costs are calculated.

Before 1 April 2027, we will test the rates and information used to calculate them and make any necessary adjustments. This means the final rates that will apply from 1 April 2027 have not yet been confirmed. We will publish them once they are available.