Energy Minister Simeon Brown accused Meridian of taking ‘unilateral approach’ over Lake Pukaki rights
Monday, 6 July 2026
Energy Minister Simeon Brown accused Meridian Energy of taking a “unilateral approach” to using extra water at Lake Pukaki, despite a pledge by the power company to limit its use this year, a letter released under the Official Information Act shows.
A fast-track panel confirmed on Friday it would give Meridian resource consent to draw down the country’s largest hydro lake by an additional five metres over the course of the next three years.
Meridian’s application was backed by the Electricity Authority, which agreed it could lower power prices, but opposed by Brown, electricity system operator Transpower and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton.
Until now, access to the extra water has been controlled by Transpower, which argued it should continue to be reserved — at its discretion — for periods when electricity generation risked falling into severe short supply.
Read more:
Simeon Brown asks fast-track panel to reject Meridian’s bid for extra water, urging ‘caution’
Meridian vs Transpower: The battle over Lake Pukaki’s ‘contingent’ water and power prices
Brown set out his opposition to Meridian’s application in a letter to the fast-track panel in May, but that did not cause it to overturn its draft ruling favouring the company.
Genesis has separately voiced concern about a possible knock-on effect on one of its power stations on the interconnected Lake Tekapo scheme if the lake is drawn down below its previously allowed level of 518m above sea level.
At prevailing wholesale-market prices, the extra five metres of water — which Meridian will be able to use free of charge — could generate about $80 million-worth of electricity each time it was drawn down.
Brown noted in his June 15 letter to Meridian chief executive Mike Roan that he had previously expressed his concern to him about Meridian’s proposal to access the extra water.
He told Roan he “acknowledged and welcomed” a statement from Meridian that it would not access more than half of the extra water this winter unless there was “a heightened risk to security of supply”.
But he said he remained “concerned about how Meridian has approached this issue from a unilateral approach, and I am also concerned about the potential negative impacts … this decision may make on security of supply”.
“My position is that Meridian should take a cautious approach to accessing this additional hydro storage through the proposed duration of the consent,” he told the company.
Despite Brown’s reference to “negative effects”, Roan said in a statement to the NZX on Friday — after the fast-track decision was confirmed — that its extra rights would “reduce dry-year risk and related price impacts … providing extra insurance for the system while more new generation capacity is constructed”.
“We already manage our hydro storage carefully, and we’ll be just as careful with this extra storage,” Roan said.
“That’s why we have committed to only using it over the remainder of 2026 if there’s heightened risk to security of supply. Even then, given current lake levels, we don’t expect to use more than half of the five metres available this year.”
Brown told The Post he expected Meridian to take a cautious approach to accessing additional hydro storage.
“I would also like them to work closely with Transpower and the Electricity Authority on how to manage risks to security of supply over the three-year period during which access has been granted,” he said.
Brown is expected to announce the appointment of a new chairperson for the Electricity Authority shortly.