"The first half of the 2015 financial year (1H15) was a transitional period for Contact as the Te Mihi geothermal power station and the new retail system were integrated into the business. Following the go-live of our new retail customer billing and service system we have made considerable progress in stabilising the system and the processes that support it. A system change of this size always creates challenges and I am pleased with the way we have been able to manage this process and hold sales volumes stable during a period of continued intense competition and price discounting. We have integrated the Te Mihi geothermal power station into our generation portfolio increasing renewable generation from 68 per cent to 76 per cent of our total output. Work completed during an extended outage at Te Mihi has improved the performance of the plant to a level above the business case which, combined with improved availability across the remainder of the portfolio, is expected to further reduce our cost of energy" said Dennis Barnes, Contact Chief Executive.

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