Meridian buys power from rival Genesis amid strong demand, declining storage

Meridian buys power from rival Genesis amid strong demand, declining storage
Gavin Evans
By Gavin Evans Feb. 14 (BusinessDesk) - Meridian Energy, the country’s biggest hydro generator, has bought electricity from rival power company, gas/coal generator Genesis Energy over the past two months. This is a sign it is trying to manage its hydro risk coming into winter. The hot, dry weather has seen more use of air conditioning and irrigation systems, increasing electricity demand. But at the same time it has caused lake storage levels to fall. Meridian has a "swaption" contract with Genesis which it uses to cover its production...