[7][8] In the period 2013 to 2020, there were multiple criticisms of Aurora Energy for poor network reliability, creating safety hazards for workers and the public, historic under-investment, and the need for large price increases to fund the renewal of ageing assets.

Independent commentators criticised the owner Dunedin City Holdings, for taking large dividends from Aurora Energy to fund the construction of the Forsyth Barr Stadium, instead of ensuring appropriate expenditure on ageing assets.

[11] In mid March 2024, the Dunedin City Council (DCC) voted by a margin of 13-1 to consult ratepayers on a proposal to sell Aurora Energy in order to pay off the company's forecast debt of NZ$750 million.

[12] On 25 September 2024, the DCC voted by a majority to retain ownership of Aurora Energy following strong public opposition to the proposed sale.

Councillors Christine Garey, Carmen Houlihan, Brent Weatherall, David Benson-Pope, Steve Walker and Bill Acklin said that the Council was following the wishes of Dunedin ratepayers in retaining a valuable asset.

The two dissenting Councillors were Deputy Mayor Cherry Lucas and Lee Vandervis, who argued that retaining the company would lead to increased debts, rates and diminished opportunities.

[13] In October 2024, they unveiled a new Integrated Services division aimed at providing comprehensive project delivery to the oil, gas, and renewables sectors.

[16] In 2013, the Commerce Commission published a report from Strata Energy Consulting that reviewed the Aurora network performance over the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2012.

[20] In October 2016, Richard Healey, a former employee of Delta Utility Services, began raising concerns in the media about the state of the Aurora network assets, and the safety hazards they presented to workers and members of the public.

[26] In June 2017, benchmarking data published by the Commerce Commission showed that on many of the measures used, Aurora was rated among the worst on both average age of its assets and their overall condition.

[29][30][31] In May 2019, the Commerce Commission released a draft decision on the revenue regulation of electricity distribution businesses, and noted specifically that Aurora Energy required significant investment in its network.

[32] In March 2020, the Commerce Commission announced that Aurora Energy had been penalised with a fine in the High Court of almost $5 million for failing to meet regulated network reliability performance standards in the 2016–2019 years.

In the media release that accompanied the High Court Judgement the Commission deputy chair Sue Begg said that "Aurora's previous management and board were well aware of the deteriorating state of its network but failed to take action".

She also acknowledged that in the period since 2016, Aurora had taken steps to improve the quality of service across its network, including the appointment of a new board and management and beginning a major programme of capital works.

In one reaction to this announcement, the Mayor of Queenstown-Lakes, Jim Boult, criticised the Dunedin City Council, as owner of Aurora, for taking high dividends that should have been spent on maintenance of the network.

Russell Garbutt claimed that Dunedin City Council had required Aurora to borrow millions of dollars so it could pay dividends to help fund the building of Forsyth Barr Stadium.