Vector Limited

The Auckland Electric Power Board (AEPB) was formed in 1922, taking over the generation, distribution and supply of electricity from several local councils. All electricity was generated locally until 1925 when the transmission line from Horahora Power Station to Penrose substation was commissioned. The AEPB was connected to the newly completed Arapuni Power Station in 1929.

Under the government reforms introduced by the Energy Companies Act 1992, the Auckland Electric Power Board was corporatised and became Mercury Energy Limited, a company owned by the Auckland Energy Consumer Trust (AECT).

The AECT was established, along with 29 other energy trusts throughout the country, to ensure that the power lines remained in the control of electricity consumers.

The AECT retained 100% ownership of Vector until 2005, when they agreed to Vector's initial public offering, or share float, of 24.9% of the shares in Vector, so it could raise money to buy gas company NGC Holdings. (Vector has since gone on to invest in other businesses too.) The result of this share float, and a subsequent buy back of shares in 2009, is that the AECT holds 75.4% of Vector's shares, a controlling interest.

The AECT has had guardianship of Vector on behalf of the Auckland community only since 1993. However, the idea of community ownership of Auckland's power network goes back much further than that. The Auckland Electric Power Board was set up in 1922 as a consumer-owned utility. (Before that, electricity distribution was looked after by local councils.) Even back then, the AEPB's founders understood the value and importance of electricity supply to Aucklanders, and this model of guardianship of electricity distribution for the good of the entire community continues today with the AECT.

When incorporated, Mercury Energy Limited owned the distribution business in Auckland, Manukau and Papakura, and also retailed electricity to customers connected to the network and elsewhere. Further government reforms were introduced by the Electricity Industry Reform Act 1998. These reforms prohibited one business from being involved in distribution and generation as well as retail. So the retail business of Mercury Energy Limited was sold to Mighty River Power, a state-owned enterprise, which continued to use the name as a trading name, and in 2016 changed its company name to Mercury Energy .

• UnitedNetworks was bought in 2002. It was a lines company operating on Auckland's North Shore and Waitakere which included a telecommunications network and Auckland's gas network. This purchase made Vector the largest multi-utility company in New Zealand.
• NGC Holdings (gas) bought from Australian Gas Light (AGL). Two-thirds in 2004, the balance in 2005. This gas transmission and distribution business was sold in 2016, becoming Firstgas, although Vector retained ownership the Auckland gas distristibution network.[2]
• NZ Windfarms A 19.99% cornerstone shareholding was bought in 2007 and later increased to 22 percent.
• Advanced Metering Services, a joint venture with Siemens (NZ) to provide advanced metering technology and services. Established 2007, the remaining 50 percent was bought from Siemens in 2010.
• Arc Innovations, a subsidiary of Meridian Energy, was acquired in November 2014.[3]

Vector sold its Wellington electricity network in 2008 to Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited of Hong Kong for $785 million. The network was renamed Wellington Electricity.