22 November 2017 - Industry proves effective during power crisis anniversary
New Zealand’s electricity industry has effectively managed yet another dry winter, further demonstrating vast improvements which avoid asking New Zealanders to save power.
It’s been 25 years since one of the worst power crises in New Zealand’s history: in the winter of 1992 street lights were turned off, people faced hot water restrictions and the country’s major industrial power user had to cut consumption by a third.
Just shy of a decade later in 2001, and then again 2003 and 2008, Kiwis were asked to voluntarily cut electricity use when dry winters occurred.
In an opinion piece published today Electricity Authority Chief Executive Carl Hansen says a similar situation could have happened this winter, if regulatory changes hadn’t been made.
“The two changes that have had the biggest impact have been the introduction of transparency measures for retail electricity companies and large industrial customers and a plan where customers are compensated if they are asked to conserve power,” Mr Hansen says.
“Both of these changes have cut out opportunities for electricity companies to lobby for a public conservation campaign.
“This last winter has been one of the driest on record for the Southern hydro lakes, and yet the industry managed the challenge without it impacting significantly on household consumers.”
Mr Hansen says the Authority will carry out a detailed review of the winter.
“There are always opportunities to learn from these experiences and we can’t be complacent when dealing with the reliability of electricity supply.”
For more information:
Shanna Crispin
Senior Communications Adviser
021 073 7777(external link)
Shanna.crispin@ea.govt.nz
Background
The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with a statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers.
Inflows into the South Island hydro lakes in the first six months of 2017 were amid the lowest on record. The drier winter was reflected in increased wholesale electricity prices but, with 98 per cent of consumers on fixed-price contracts, there was not a significant impact on household consumers.
Figure 1: Hydro storage
