Transpower fined $150k for 2021 grid emergency

More power was available from Huntly the night the lights went out. (Image: Getty)

Mon, 08 May 2023

The Electricity Authority has seen national grid operator Transpower fined in relation to 34,000 homes experiencing a power cut on a cold midwinter night, despite generation capacity being available.The emergency happened on Aug 9, 2021, when cold weather across the country resulted in a new national peak-demand record being set of 7,157 megawatts – the previous record set on June 29 was 6,924MW.The Electricity Rulings Panel fined Transpower $150,000 and ordered it to pay costs of $6,207 after the grid operator admitted two breaches...

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