Electricity Authority blasts Transpower for role in August power cuts

Friday, 10 September 2021

Transpower only issued a ‘red’ emergency notice at lunchtime on the day of the power cuts, which Genesis said came too late.

The Electricity Authority has blasted national grid operator Transpower for its role in last month’s power cuts.

About 34,350 homes had their electricity cut off without warning on August 9, when a cold snap that was forecast to leave supplies tight coincided with an unplanned outage of Genesis’ Tokaanu hydro power station on the Tongariro River.

The Electricity Authority said Transpower’s communications in the run-up to the power cuts, warning that that supplies would be tight that evening, were “ambiguous and at times unsatisfactory”.

Transpower first warned at 6.42am on the day of the cuts of a possible power shortage between 5.30pm and 8.30pm that evening, but it was not until 1.02pm that the grid operator issued a “red notice” specifically requesting generators “increase their energy offers”.

* Power cut blame: Transpower to be scrutinised first, 'then wider issues'

* Electric Kiwi files 'UTS' complaint over Monday's electricity market failure

* Heat goes on Transpower after Wel Networks reveals grid operator made huge error

Transpower has been advised to run an annual drill for a power emergency, to make sure the industry is better prepared for ‘next time’

* WEL Networks keeps consumers in the dark as fury builds over power outages in Waikato

* Power cuts: Genesis boss says firm feels 'victimised' as Transpower admits error

Genesis Energy said at the time that was too late for it to help out by firing up the third coal-burning Rankine turbine at its Huntly power station, as it took about 8½ hours to generate a “meaningful amount” of energy.

As previously admitted by Transpower, the Electricity Authority found the state-owned enterprise made matters worse that evening by telling some lines companies to reduce demand on their networks by more than they needed to.

Hamilton-based Wel Networks said soon after the power cuts that error resulted in it having to cut power to 17,752 homes, when it only needed to cut power to 1373.

Electricity Authority chief executive James Stevenson-Wallace said Transpower’s communications and the tool it used to calculate how much power needed to be cut were unsatisfactory and contributed to more than 34,000 customers losing power.

Energy Minister Megan Woods has ordered a separate report into the power cuts which is due to be completed in October.

“Household consumers and businesses were left without power on one of the coldest nights this year. That’s not good enough,” he said.

Transpower’s warning notices did not give enough information for electricity distributors to understand the wider context of the event, the regulator found.

It said the “lack of clarity” resulted in distributors and electricity retailers not having enough information to ensure they communicated the extent of the issue with their customers.

Electricity distributors were confused as to whether the notices issued by Transpower were “calls to immediate action or forewarning of possible future action”, it found.

“This ambiguity resulted in some distributors being unsure about the action required.”

Transpower said in a brief statement posted on its website that its chief executive Alison Andrew accepted the Electricity Authority’s report and it was “getting on with making the required changes”.

“My team has spent the past few weeks supporting the authority in their review while also looking into our own communication with industry,” she said.

“We have already made improvements, as acknowledged by the authority, in the way that subsequent events have been managed,” she said. 

“We now have two-weeks to respond to the specifics of the report and we will be working closely with the authority and industry to make the necessary changes.”

The Electricity Authority’s recommendations included that Transpower better prepare for future power emergencies by preparing “an annual pan-industry exercise to test processes, actions and communications and clarify responsibilities ahead of responding to a real emergency”.  

Its report is only the first stage in its inquiry into the power cuts.

It is also reviewing the role of power companies and is investigating a separate formal compliant from independent retailers that Genesis Energy and Contact abused market power and withheld generation in the run-up to the power cuts – a claim those companies deny.

In addition to that, Energy Minister Megan Woods has instructed the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to conduct its own investigation into the power cuts, which is due to be completed in October.