The COVID-19 pandemic is an extraordinary event, with the effects of both the measures taken to contain the transmission of the virus and the virus itself, causing significant disruption to New Zealander’s lives.

During and since the lockdowns in 2020, the electricity industry demonstrated a strong degree of flexibility and resilience in managing the supply of electricity to consumers. The Authority believes the electricity industry can be proud of what it has achieved through an extremely disruptive year.

Earlier this year, the Authority took the opportunity to explore the lessons learned through the 2020 lockdown periods by commissioning a review. The review found that the industry generally performed well during the pandemic. Although there were challenges, the industry was able to maintain high levels of operational and customer services.

As has been the case with all sectors of the economy, many lessons have been learned through the experiences of the lockdowns (and subsequently), and the Authority wanted to share the review to ensure that lessons learned in certain parts of the industry were socialised to all that would benefit.

The review is available to read below.