Nearly all available electricity used in June

It almost got to the stage where the last few volts of electricity were dribbling out of the power socket on the wall, to draw a parallel between currents of electricity and flows of water out of a tap.

Data released today shows nearly all available electricity in New Zealand was used during the worst of last month's cold weather.

Transpower went on alert with a nationwide grid emergency, asking power plants to boost their machines and lines companies to cut demand from 5.30pm on June 19.

In what Electricity Commission chairman Roy Hemmingway described as a rare event, standby power plant usually available in the "reserves market" had to be used to fill the gap.

Nearly 1000 megawatts of power plant was not available on the day, with some plants not operating or because of transmission line maintenance.

With the tight supply, electricity spot prices shot up . Final prices for June 19 were calculated at $10,000 a megawatt hour for the 5pm to 6pm period.

Mr Hemmingway said these were the highest nationwide spot power prices on record.

- NZPA