Power cut enquiry reveals shortcomings

An investigation into power cuts that left more than 34,000 households without electricity on one of the coldest nights of the year on August 9 has found that there was no need for any disconnections.

That’s according to energy and resources minister Megan Woods who says the supply interruptions should not have seen any households’ power disconnected and that 18 recommendations have come from a report headed by former Cabinet minister Pete Hodgson and assisted by specialist technical advisor Erik Westergaard.

“The investigation sets out a number of key findings, crucially that turning off the power for more than 34,000 households for up to two hours, simply need not have happened, and there was enough discretionary load to keep the lights on,” Woods says.

“The report also found that Transpower, as the electricity system operator, had inadequate visibility of the extent of that discretionary load and that the Electricity Authority (EA) must review and strengthen its oversight of the system operator,” she adds.

“I am writing to the chairs of Transpower and the Electricity Authority requesting they consider the recommendations in the report that relate to them and provide me with quarterly updates on progress.”

Woods says it’s also clear the market requires much greater demand side participation if greater electrification and decarbonisation is to happen.

“In future better use of hot water control, known as ripple control, and other technologies are likely to be key to this.”

Woods says other findings included praise for the way system operator staff acted during a challenging evening, and for the responsiveness of electricity distribution businesses to the event.