The Horizon Energy Group is pleased to announce that it will be celebrating 100 years of electricity supply to the Whakatāne township, during November 2022. To mark the occasion, the company will be releasing a book, “Power and Progress – A Century of Development" that captures the history and development of the electricity infrastructure, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, over the last century.

To mark the event, a curated exhibition will be held at the Whakatāne Museum, between 20–30 November 2022, and the Ōpōtiki Museum between 1-10 December 2022, that will showcase the book and chronology of our history, via interactive digital devices that the public will be able to use, to learn more about the development of the company. The exhibition will return to the Whakatāne Museum and will remain on display for the foreseeable future.

CEO Ajay Anand says it's an extraordinary achievement that the community can be rightly proud of. They have been on this journey with Horizon since its inception and the business continues to grow and evolve with their community.

"We started with a simple but strong network, and have grown it into a state-of-the-art, interconnected, sustainable, customer-facing business - that we are so proud of. We are continually improving what we do and how we do it, so we have a strong business for the next hundred years."

The Horizon Energy Group will be formally launching the book on 30 November 2022, which marks the date when the Karaponga hydro power scheme was officially opened in 1922. The event, with invited guests and staff, is a dawn ceremony at the Ōhope Golf Club and this will be followed by an event with the local business community, at a Business After 5 session on the same day, at the Top Shelf, the Strand, Whakatāne commencing at 5.30pm.

We would encourage members of the public to attend the exhibition, to mark this significant milestone in the company’s history and to celebrate this wonderful community asset that powers our daily lives.