Infrastructure, development and primary sector national direction

The National Environmental Standards for Electricity Transmission Activities (NESETA) came into effect in 2009. The NESETA enabled Transpower to undertake activities for the operation, maintenance and upgrade of electricity transmission network lines existing at 14 January 2010. The NESETA was intended to complement the enabling policies of the NPSET 2008.

No existing national direction covers electricity distribution or EV charging infrastructure.

The NESETA does not enable and protect electricity networks enough to achieve the Government’s objectives for electrification, energy security and economic growth. Proposed amendments to the NESETA aim to address the following problems.

• Inconsistent policies, processes and rules add unnecessary complexity, cost and delay to the operation, maintenance and upgrade of the electricity transmission network.
• Protecting the electricity transmission network from the effects of other activities is time-consuming and unnecessarily costly.
• Current national direction does not cover the electricity distribution network and inconsistencies in district plan provisions relating to this infrastructure.
• In some cases, the NPSET terms and policies are inconsistent with the NESETA rules.

Without national direction for EV charging infrastructure, district plan provisions are being prepared inconsistently across the country. Variation in plan rules creates additional costs and greater inefficiencies, such as higher average output costs for manufacturers. Unnecessary consent requirements for EV charging infrastructure cause time delays and excessive compliance costs, and some requirements necessitate bespoke designs. These factors are likely to impede efficient and timely roll-out of EV charging infrastructure.

The proposal is to amend the NESETA, to provide more enabling standards and extend its application to include electricity distribution and EV charging infrastructure. The proposed amendments are intended to:

• enable more routine work on the electricity transmission network in all environments
• introduce new rules to protect the electricity transmission network based on the National Grid Corridor provisions
• introduce new provisions for the electricity distribution network (ie, protection and routine works for the existing network, and construction of new distribution network assets)
• introduce new permitted activity standards for EV charging infrastructure.

More detail on the proposed provisions is included in attachment 1.4 of this document. No existing provisions of the NESETA beyond those included in this proposal are open for public consultation.

The proposal is to rename the NESETA to the National Environmental Standards for Electricity Network Activities (NES-ENA), to recognise and provide for the electricity distribution network as well as EV charging infrastructure.

The current NESETA only applies to the operation, maintenance and upgrading of existing electricity transmission lines.³⁶ The proposed NES-ENA will include regional and district plan rules to support the construction and development of new electricity distribution lines. The proposed NES-ENA would not apply to transmission lines developed after 2010 (including any future lines), as these are likely to be covered by designations under the RMA, which already provide an enabling framework.

Definitions across the proposed NPS-EN and proposed NES-ENA will be aligned to support effective implementation. Key new definitions include ‘routine electricity network activities’ and ‘ancillary electricity network activities’, as well as a proposed definition for EV charging infrastructure (discussed in the Public EV charging infrastructure section below).

^{36 Electricity transmission lines operational, or able to be operated, as at 14 January 2010.}

The proposed NES-ENA would be more permissive than the existing NESETA for some routine electricity transmission activities (such as relocation, replacements and ancillary activities like vegetation clearance and earthworks). This will increase the permitted activity thresholds for certain activities (eg, a higher threshold to increase the height of support structures from 15 per cent to 25 per cent).

Some electricity transmission activities (eg, adding overhead conductors) may not be able to meet the permitted activity standards. The proposed NES-ENA would amend the status of these activities from a ‘restricted discretionary activity’ to a ‘controlled activity’, which would:

• provide electricity network operators with more certainty
• recognise routine activities essential for the electricity network
• focus on how activities should be undertaken instead of whether they should be undertaken.

The proposal is to make matters of control more consistent for controlled activities.³⁷ This is to align the new and amended definitions and ensure all relevant matters can be considered.

The general changes proposed to permitted and controlled activities are:

• applying consistent references to a ‘natural area’ and a ‘historic heritage place or area’
• adding new matters of control relating to technical requirements, operational need and functional need of electricity network activities
• considering the benefits of the electricity network.

The electricity sector has raised concerns that some of the general matters of control in the NESETA are too broad or vague. However, the Government considers it appropriate to retain the ability to consider and manage visual, landscape and ecological effects, even when these do not relate to values protected under section 6 of the RMA.

^{37 Resource consents for controlled activities must be granted by consent authorities and consent authorities have limited discretion to impose conditions}

The proposed NES-ENA introduces rules for the National Grid Yard and Subdivision Corridor, based on the existing provisions developed over a number of years by Transpower with stakeholders, such as Federated Farmers, and generally accepted as best practice.

The proposal establishes a ‘National Grid Yard’ and ‘National Grid Subdivision Corridor’ to prevent inappropriate buildings and structures, land disturbance and subdivision by third parties from taking place near or underneath transmission lines and support structures. The proposed rules permit certain activities within the National Grid Yard if they do not present a risk to the transmission network.

With agreement from Auckland Council, the Government proposes to recognise and provide for the Auckland Compromised and Uncompromised Spans, retaining the existing setbacks and rules within the Auckland Unitary Plan.

The NESETA regulates some activities on existing transmission lines relating to regional council functions (ie, managing water, soils and the coastal marine area). Many transmission activities are necessary to facilitate the ongoing operation and efficiency of the network and cannot be avoided in these environments. Five regional activities Transpower routinely undertakes, which are not currently within the scope of the NESETA, are:

• river crossings
• groundwater takes and use, dewatering
• stormwater discharges
• structures in the coastal marine area
• works in the bed of a lake or river.

The proposal is to ensure a nationally consistent approach by creating new permitted activity rules for the above categories in the NES-ENA. A permitted activity would be subject to conditions which, if not met, would require a consent for a restricted discretionary or controlled activity.

The Government also seeks feedback on a proposal for the NES-ENA to require management plans to be submitted to regional councils as part of a permitted activity. The management plans could cover routine ancillary activities such as vegetation management and earthworks, in addition to the proposed management plan approach for discharges from blasting.

Further detail on these proposals is included in attachment 1.4 of this document.

The proposal is to provide nationally consistent regulations to enable electricity distribution activities that:

• align with proposed policy in the NPS-EN to enable routine activities in all environments
• recognise the necessity of routine activities for the safe, efficient and effective development, operation, maintenance and upgrading of the electricity distribution network
• provide greater certainty to electricity distribution businesses that routine maintenance, operation and upgrade activities will be enabled.

Changes are proposed in the following areas:

• existing distribution assets – add new permitted activity regulations for certain electricity distribution activities on existing lines when the standards are met, and controlled activity regulations when they are not
• new distribution assets – provide permitted activity regulations for the development of new distribution lines and cabinets when standards are met, and restricted discretionary activity regulations when they are not
• new rules – provide regulations relating to subdivision and construction of buildings or structures near electricity distribution lines to ensure these comply with safe distance requirements.

Some amendments to the matters of control for controlled activities are discussed above, in the Enabling routine work on the electricity transmission section. These amendments would also apply to the electricity distribution network.

The proposed rules for buildings, structures and subdivisions proposed near electricity distribution lines will require compliance with the New Zealand Electrical Code of Practice for Electrical Safe Distances 34:2001 (NZECP 34).³⁸

^{38 Worksafe. Electrical Codes of Practice. Retrieved 28 April 2025.}

The NESETA does not currently allow district or regional plan rules to be more stringent or lenient than the instrument itself.

The proposed NES-ENA allows district plan rules to be more lenient, but not more stringent, in relation to electricity distribution activities (and EV charging infrastructure) regulated by the NES-ENA. District plans would need to incorporate more lenient provisions using plan-making processes under Schedule 1 of the RMA.  Leniency will help preserve existing rules that have been developed in collaboration with transmission and distribution providers, which are more enabling than the proposed NES-ENA.³⁹

^{39 Schedule 1 of the RMA provides for the preparation, change and review of policy statements and plans.}

The current resource management system does not support the Government’s target of ‘supercharging EV infrastructure’ by enabling the installation of 10,000 public EV charging points by 2030.

Although some councils have included specific EV charging provisions in their district plans, most have not, and there is no consistency in how plans consider EV charging infrastructure.

New permitted activity rules are proposed for district or unitary plans. These proposed rules cover the construction, maintenance and operation of EV charging infrastructure under specified circumstances and in specified locations, including:

• private charging at home or at work
• public charging in land transport corridors
• public charging as an ancillary activity
• public charging at standalone facilities.

The proposed definition of ‘EV charging infrastructure’ is the construction and operation of any buildings and structures, parking spaces, chargers and associated equipment used for the purposes of, and associated with, charging EVs.

The proposal is to include EV charging infrastructure standards in the NES-ENA, because it is the most appropriate national direction instrument that could include such rules, and because the rules can take effect immediately.

Private facilities for charging EVs at home or at work typically have no or negligible adverse effects on the environment. The proposal makes private EV charging and the associated infrastructure a permitted activity. However, private EV charging infrastructure needs to comply with relevant zone rules for the construction of buildings and structures to maintain existing amenity controls (eg, setback to boundaries, height limits).

Land transport corridors⁴⁰ are a convenient location for EV charging infrastructure. Activities in land transport corridors also require the approval of road- or rail-controlling authorities.

The design of charging infrastructure in land transport corridors can vary widely, but the effects could be reasonably managed solely by the road- or rail-controlling authorities. This proposal is consistent with other activities in land transport corridors (eg, telecommunication facilities and lighting).

The proposed rule is for the construction, operation and maintenance of EV charging infrastructure to be a permitted activity, without any constraints on scale or other variables, if it is located in a land transport corridor.

^{40 The land transport corridor includes the road or rail carriageway, and footpaths, berms or grassed areas on either side of the carriageway.}

EV charging infrastructure is often ancillary to a primary activity (ie, at service stations and supermarket carparks) available for public use. The additional environmental effects of ancillary EV charging infrastructure are generally minor compared to the scale of the primary activity.

The proposal is to make ancillary EV charging a permitted activity, subject to compliance with limits on height and noise, and with earthworks standards.

A resource consent would be required, with a restricted discretionary activity status, for ancillary EV charging that cannot meet the permitted activity standards. This constrains the decision-making scope of the consent authority to matters of discretion.

Charging infrastructure can also be designed as a standalone facility so that EV charging is the primary use of the site. Standalone public EV charging infrastructure can be large scale and have a high traffic volume, compared with private, transport corridor or ancillary charging infrastructure. Standalone charging facilities can operate like a self-service petrol station, with relatively limited effects.

The proposal is to make standalone EV charging infrastructure facilities a permitted activity outside residential zones, ‘natural areas’, and places with historic heritage value – subject to compliance with limits on height and noise, and with earthworks standards.

A resource consent would be required, for a restricted discretionary activity, for proposed standalone EV charging infrastructure:

• in residential areas and residential zones
• in ‘natural areas’ and places with historic heritage value
• that is part of a project that does not comply with the permitted activity standards.

Table 5 outlines the anticipated impacts of the NES-ENA proposal on various parties, with more detail available in the Interim Regulatory Impact Statement: National Direction for electricity networks (updating NPSET 2008 and NES-ETA 2009) on the Ministry for the Environment’s website.

Table 5:         Overview of anticipated impacts of the proposed NES-ENA

The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform considers the proposals to be consistent with the purpose of the RMA because they:

• enable the use and development of natural and physical resources to develop, operate, protect, maintain and upgrade electricity transmission and distribution networks and EV charging facilities, while managing effects on the environment by providing clear and nationally consistent rules
• support people and communities to provide for their social, economic and cultural wellbeing, and for their health and safety, by:

      - contributing to maintaining and increasing electricity transmission and distribution, and EV charging capacity, to improve electricity security and meet emissions reduction targets

      - providing additional protections for the National Grid

      - managing adverse effects of electricity network activities on the environment, by setting permitted activity conditions and defaulting activities to controlled status where conditions are not met, with matters of control retained to manage environmental effects.

The NES-ENA proposals are designed to enable electricity network activities to meet increasing electricity demand, and to deliver affordable and reliable electricity through a secure supply. The Crown can protect Māori interests and support Māori development (ie, Māori enterprise) by ensuring Māori have access to affordable and reliable electricity.

Some adverse environmental impacts are associated with the permitted activity rules, but none are predicted to cause significant effects on the environment. The NES-ENA does not permit the construction of new transmission lines. Effects from necessary maintenance and upgrades of network are often unavoidable. This could impact Māori land, taonga or cultural sites near electricity networks. The permitted activity standards seek to avoid or mitigate environmental effects, and, where they cannot be met, the electricity network operator must obtain a resource consent.

Where electricity transmission lines are located on Māori land, the National Grid Corridor rules will restrict what Māori can do on their land.

We have not identified any significant impacts of the proposals on Treaty settlements or related arrangements.

Consultation will be necessary to test whether iwi, hapū and other Māori groups have concerns about the proposal or any perceived impacts on sites of significance to Māori, marae, Māori land, land returned under Treaty settlements or other matters of significance to Māori groups.

With the exception of stringency and leniency provisions, nothing in the proposal provides further direction on implementation other than existing direction in the RMA, which is described in section 4.