22 Dec 2020

Electricity Authority rules on dam spilling complaint

From Nine To Noon, 9:08 am on 22 December 2020

The electricity regulator has found that water spilled out of South Island dams in 2019 caused an unfair situation for consumers for power prices. But its not allocating blame to any one generator. The Electricity Authority has found  that there was an "undesirable trading situation" from the 3rd of December to the 27th of December 2019 and that "water was wasted when it could have been used". 

A complaint was taken to the Electricity authority by a group of seven smaller electricity retailers who accused Meridian and Contact Energy of manipulating prices. A preliminary decision in November found that prices had been pushed up by the spilling water. It also found that as a result less sustainable power generation was used in the north island to meet demand for power. 

the final decision has found that while there was an unfair situation, no one is to blame. The authority has said that they will announce further actions to address the situation in February next year. Steve O'Connor is the Chief Executive of Flick Electric, one of the seven retailers who made the complaint that there had been an unfair trading situation. 

Manapouri Power Station on the western arm of Lake Manapouri in New Zealand

Photo: 123rf