KEY POINTS:
With the 400-megawatt Otahuhu B power station back in service and recent rain over the southern hydro lake catchments, spot electricity prices avoided a spike up in the past week.
The daily average electricity spot market price at the North Island reference point of Haywards was down to 17.27c per kilowatt hour yesterday from 30.37c a month ago, although still well above the 6.69c of a year earlier.
The price was as high as 44.06c on Thursday, May 29, and spiked up again the following Thursday to 40.36c, but last Thursday started to move down from prices between about 32c and 33.5c earlier in the week.
With the market already strained by low hydro lake levels, further pressure was added this month when Contact Energy's Otahuhu B gas-fired station went off line on June 4 for repairs. The company announced last Monday the station was back in service.
The southern hydro lake catchments also received a good drenching over the weekend, with MetService reporting rainfalls of between 50mm and 150mm in the areas since last Thursday.
M-Co said hydro lake levels were up to 55 per cent of average by midnight yesterday from 49 per cent on Thursday.
The rise came as inflows got to 176 per cent of average on Saturday and 166 per cent yesterday.
But despite the improvement, levels are still down on the 62 per cent of a month ago and 81 per cent of a year ago.
- NZPA
