December 2016 Operating Report

Monthly Operating Report
December 2016

»For the month of December 2016 Contact recorded:
•Electricity, gas and steam sales of 682 GWh
(December 2015: 709 GWh)
•Netback of $73.18/MWh (December 2015:
$78.28/MWh)
•Cost of energy was $23.83/MWh (December 2015:
$19.75/MWh) as compensation related to the Te
Mihipower station recognised in December 2015
did not recur.
»Otahuhu futures settlement wholesale price for the 1st
quarter of 2017 (ASX):
•As at 25 January 2017: $53/MWh
•As at 31 December 2016: $60/MWh
•As at 30 November 2016: $63/MWh
»As at the 25th of January 2017, South Island storage
was 117% of mean (31 December: 111%) and North
Island storage was 136% of mean (31 December:
138%)
December overview
Operating reportContact Energy Limited
2
»Contact’s financial results for the six months ending
31 December 2016 will be released prior to the
market opening on Monday, 13 February 2017.

Hydro storage and forward prices
New Zealand hydro storage against mean
Operating reportContact Energy Limited
Benmore ASX futures settlement
Otahuhu ASX futures settlement
3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
CY17CY18CY19CY20
$/MWh
30/06/201630/11/201630/12/2016
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
CY17CY18CY19CY20
$/MWh
30/06/201630/11/201630/12/2016
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
Jan
16
Feb
16
Mar
16
Apr
16
May
16
Jun
16
Jul
16
Aug
16
Sep
16
Oct
16
Nov
16
Dec
16
GWh
South Island ActualNorth Island Actual
South Island MeanNational Mean

Wholesale market
Wholesale electricity pricing
Operating reportContact Energy Limited
Distribution of wholesale market price by trading periods
Benmore node
Otahuhu node
4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
JulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJun
$/MWh
2015 BEN2016 BEN2015 OTA2016 OTA
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
<$35$36-$45$46-$55$56-$65$66-$75$76-$85>$85
% of trading periods
Dec 16Dec 15Nov 16
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
<$35$36-$45$46-$55$56-$65$66-$75$76-$85>$85
% of trading periods
Dec 16Dec 15Nov 16

Electricity demand
Source: Contact and Electricity Authority grid demand (reconciled) www.emi.govt.nz
Operating reportContact Energy Limited
Regional demand change (%) on December 2015*
Total national demand (FY15, 16 and 17)
»New Zealand electricity demand was down 2.4% on December 2015 (down
1.3% on December 2014).
•Cumulative 12 months demand for January 2016 to December 2016 of
40,746 GWh is 1.4% lower than the prior comparative period.
5
*Source: Contact –excludes large industrial
Month Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
(2%)
2%
(2%)
(1%)
(1%)
(12%)
(9%)
(41%)
(6%)
2%
(3%)
(12%)
0%
0%
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
141516141516141516141516141516141516141514151415141514151415
GWh
North IslandSouth IslandNZAS
FY

10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
-
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
15 16 15 16 15 16 15 16 15 16 15 16 15 15 15 15 15 15
$/MWh
GWh
GeothermalHydroThermalCost of Energy
Contact’s generation performance
Generation mix and cost of energy (FY16 and 17)
Operating reportContact Energy Limited
6
Month Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
FY

60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
15 16 15 16 15 16 15 16 15 16 15 16 15 15 15 15 15 15
$/MWh
GWh
Electricity salesRetail gas salesSteam salesNetback
Retail sales volumes and netback (FY16 and 17)
Contact’s retail performance
7
Month Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
FY
Operating reportContact Energy Limited

Contact’s operational performance
8
Operating reportContact Energy Limited
DataMeasureThe month ended
December 2016
The month ended
December 2015
The month ended
November 2016
Six months ended
December 2016
Six months ended
December 2015
NetbackMass market electricity salesGWh260 278 261 1,942 2,052
Commercial & industrial electricity salesGWh327 327 344 2,059 1,974
Retail gas salesGWh39 37 50 392 377
Steam salesGWh55 67 60 349 377
Total retail salesGWh682 709 715 4,741 4,780
Average electricity sales price$/MWh171.25 169.85 164.23 179.01 181.31
Electricity direct pass through costs$/MWh(76.48) (74.76) (74.81) (76.27) (77.02)
Electricity and gas cost to serve$/MWh(15.17) (11.61) (13.86) (13.24) (13.75)
Netback$/MWh73.18 78.28 68.75 80.83 81.94
Electricity line losses%5%3%5%5%5%
Retail gas salesPJ0.1 0.1 0.2 1.3 1.3
Electricity customer numbers
1
#421,000 421,000 422,500
Gas customer numbers
1
#62,500 60,500 62,500
Cost of energyThermal generationGWh37 56 54 685 1,036
Geothermal generationGWh295 290 208 1,552 1,623
Hydro generationGWh388 366 369 2,073 2,010
Spot market generationGWh720 712 632 4,310 4,669
Spot electricity purchasesGWh610 614 628 4,156 4,186
CfD purchase / (sales)GWh531(15)(41)39
GWAP $/MWh37.74 68.35 41.55 47.04 57.80
LWAP $/MWh(44.43) (76.04) (47.46) (52.78) (62.34)
LWAP/GWAP%118%111%114%112%108%
Gas used in internal generationPJ0.6 0.8 0.7 7.4 9.8
Gas storage net movement
2
PJ0.3 (0.1) 0.3 (0.79) (1.98)
Unit generation cost$/MWh(25.55) (26.30) (32.22) (31.16) (35.13)
Cost of energy$/MWh(23.83) (19.75) (32.23) (30.88) (33.27)
LPGLPG sales tonnes5,363 5,327 5,882 38,112 37,379
LPG customer numbers (includes franchises)
1
#76,500 72,500 76,000
1
Data has been rounded to the nearest 500 and reflects numbers as at month end.

Glossary of terms
Netback
Measures the performance of
the retail business.
This enables the performance of
the retail channels to be
measured without using an
energy cost. The netback is
meant to cover, inter alia, the net
purchase cost, capital return,
risk margin and a retail margin.
Electricity revenue from mass market and C&I customers
Add: Revenue from gas sales
Add: Revenue from steam sales
Less: Electricity distribution network costs, meter costs and electricity levies
Less: Gas distribution network costs, meter costs and gas levies
Less: Operating costs to serve the customer, including head office allocation
Cost of Energy
Measures the performance of
the energy supply business.
Cost of energy reflects the total
operational costs of supplying
the energy sold. It does not
include any capital return
expectations.
Wholesale electricity revenue from our generating assets
Less: Electricity purchase costs from the wholesale market to supply customers
Less: Electricity transmission costs and levies
Less: Gas and diesel purchase costs
Less: Gas transmission costs and levies
Less: Carbon emissions costs
Less: Generation operating costs and head office allocation
Netback and cost of energy is divided by the total retail sales volumes (electricity, gas and steam sales) to be expressed as $/MWh

Keep in touch
Operating reportContact Energy Limited
10
contact.co.nz
@ContactEnergy
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investor.centre@contactenergy.co.nz
contact.co.nz/corporate/investor-centre
+64 462 1323
+64 21 0728578
Investor Relations
Matthew Forbes -Investor Relations Manager
Contact Energy