Слияние Mercury NZ и Trustpower: создание лидера энергетического рынка Новой Зеландии.

New Zealand electricity generation and retailing company
The company is listed on the New Zealand stock exchange, but its ownership structure is dominated by its two major shareholders: Infratil which owns 51.0% and the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust (TECT) which owns 26.8%. The remaining 22.2% is widely held. Mercury NZ Limited acquired Trustpower Limited’s retail business for the final acquisition price of $467 million. The acquisition will double Mercury’s total customer connections. Trustpower’s retail business sells electricity, gas, fixed and wireless broadband, and mobile phone services, totalling approximately 416,000 connections. The combined business will have approximately 787,000 connections creating New Zealand’s leading multi product utilities retail business. Mercury Chief Executive Vince Hawksworth says that Mercury and Trustpower customers will continue to receive the same high standard of service they’ve known from both retail brands.

In 1913, the Tauranga Borough Council applied to the Department of Lands to have the Omanawa Falls vested in their body corporate for the purposes of water power generation. They also applied under section 268 of the Public Works Act 1908 for a licence to generate electricity. In October 1914, the Public Works Department gave its approval for water to be taken from the Omanawa River to generate electricity and circulate it throughout the borough and surrounding area. With plans underway to build its new Omanawa Falls Power Station the Tauranga Borough Council established on 5 October 1914 a municipal electricity department to market and distribute the electricity that would be produced by the new station. Its supply area ranged from the causeway bridges leading through the town, 17th Avenue in the south to Sulphur Point in the north, a total of 210 square miles (544 square km). In 1915 the borough council hired Lloyd Mandeno as its electrical engineer, with responsibility not only for building the distribution system that will take power from the new power station but also to convince the population of 1,540 to give up their candles, kerosene lamps and town gas for the new untried electricity. By 1924 68 homes out of the 700 in the borough were using electric cooking. after being accused of a conflict of interest by Tauranga's Mayor, Bradshaw Dive. He was replaced by Claude W. Boak as electrical and general engineer. By 1928 the department had installed 232 water heaters and 120 electric stoves and was supplying 848 customers with a revenue of £22,116. With demand still continuing to increased through the 1930 the combined output of Omanawa Falls and McLaren Falls was proving insufficient. As a result, the electricity department was forced to arrange with the SHD to take supply from its Aongatete and Te Puke. In 1962 the department began using underground cabling systems in new subdivisions. In the same decade the department decided to proceed with construction of two new power stations that utilised the waters of the Mangapapa and Wairoa Rivers, which had been designed by consultants Mandeno Chitty & Bell in whom Lloyd Mandeno was a principal. Approval to proceed was granted by the New Zealand government in 1963 continual upon the station's output being equally shared with the Tauranga Electric Power Board. As a result, the Tauranga Joint Generation Committee was established in 1965 to develop, control and sell electricity generation. As a result of this initiative the original two planned stations, the Lloyd Mandeno Power Station was commissioned in 1972, and the Ruahihi Power Station in 1981. In between these two dates an additional station, the Lower Mangapapa Power Station had been commissioned in April 1979. All three stations were operated as part of the Kaimai hydro power scheme. However the board retained him as their consulting engineer on an annual retaining fee of £250 plus travelling expenses, a position he retained until 1929.

In 1998 the New Zealand Government passed the Electricity Industry Reform Act 1998 which was intended to change the structure of the electricity industry to encourage competition. This Act required the operational separation of lines and generation business activities by 1 July 1999 and separation of the ownership by 1 January 2004. As by now Trustpower had built up a substantial generation portfolio it elected to be a generator/retailer and so sold its lines and its contracting business, PowerLink Limited. Following a competitive sales process, TrustPower sold its lines business to United Networks Limited (formerly Power New Zealand) for $485 million. Trustpower also acquired the retail business from eight energy companies: Waipa Power, Wairoa Power, Marlborough Electric, Buller Electricity, Westpower, Electricity Ashburton, Central Electric, and Otago Power.

In 2013, Trustpower bought Energy Direct, a Whanganui electricity and gas company. In 2015, it bought 65% of King Country Energy Ltd from Nova Energy. King Country Energy generates all of its electricity from renewable sources (principally hydro electric generation) and supplies electricity to the Waitomo, King Country and Ruapehu Districts. King Country Energy was incorporated in 1991. On 18 December 2015, Trustpower announced that it was considering a process to demerge its wind assets in Australia and New Zealand, separating into two New Zealand incorporated listed companies by way of a Court approved scheme of arrangement. The Demerger, effective on 31 October 2016, resulted in the creation of two new companies, Trustpower and Tilt Renewables. The demerger enables each business to focus on their respective areas of specialisation. In 2018, Trustpower and King Country Electric Power Trust (KCEPT), assumed full ownership of King Country Energy Limited (KCE). This is the outcome of a joint venture takeover made by a wholly owned subsidiary of Trustpower and KCEPT, initiated in December 2017, that sought to acquire the balance of KCE's ordinary shares at $5 per share. Trustpower now controls 75% of KCE, with KCEPT controlling the remaining 25%. KCE sold its retail business to Trustpower in July 2018. Trustpower sold its Australian hydro power generation assets operator GSP Energy Pty Limited for A$168 million ($129.46 million), as the company focuses on its core New Zealand business.

In May 2022, Trustpower sold its mass market retail business, retail customer base and the Trustpower brand to Mercury NZ Ltd. The company retained its hydro electricity assets to become NZ's largest independent electricity generator, representing around 5% of the New Zealand generation capacity and changed their name to Manawa Energy, Manawa means ‘heart’ and it speaks to the heart of the company's operations in the Bay of Plenty. The name was gifted by Ngāti Hangarau hapū in the Kaimai area. It traces the company's origins back to the first hydro electric power station on the Omanawa River. Trustpower continued to operate under the Trustpower brand and offer bundled services for power, gas, broadband and mobile, until the sale to Mercury Energy in May 2022 (when it was merged into the Mercury retail brand).

+Manawa Energy power stations in New ZealandSchemeStationTypeCapacityCommissionedLocationBream Baydiesel9 MW2011Northland KaimaiLloyd Mandenohydro16 MW 1972Bay of PlentyLower Mangapapahydro5.6 MW1979Ruahihihydro20 MW1981Kaimai 5hydro0.3 MW1994MatahinaMatahinahydro80 MW1967Wheao/FlaxyWheao / Flaxyhydro26 MW1982EskRimuhydro2.4 MW2013Hawke's BayToronuihydro1.4 MW2013HinemaiaiaHinemaiaiahydro6 MW1952WaikatoMangorei Mangorei hydro4.5 MW1906TaranakiMotukawaMotukawahydro5 MW1927PateaPateahydro31 MW1984CobbCobbhydro32 MW1944NelsonBranchArgylehydro11 MW1983MarlboroughWaihopaiWaihopaihydro2.4 MW1927ArnoldArnoldhydro3 MW1932West CoastKumaraKumarahydro6.5 MW1978Dillmanshydro3.5 MW1978Duffershydro0.5 MW1980KaniereKaniere Forkshydro0.4 MW1909McKay's Creekhydro1.1 MW1931WahapoWahapohydro3.1 MW1960ColeridgeColeridgehydro39 MW1914CanterburyHighbankHighbankhydro28 MW1945Montaltohydro1.8 MW1982Paerau/PatearoaPaerauhydro12 MW1984OtagoWaiporiDeep Streamhydro5 MW2008Waiporihydro84 MW1907

The McLaren Falls Station on the Kaimai hydro power scheme was decommissioned in 1989 following the commissioning of the Ruahihi Power Station. In 1998 Trustpower decommissioned the Omanawa Falls Power Station and gifted it to the Tauranga City Council.