Opinion: Middle NZ: Lights out as power runs out

The lights went out for thousands of people around the country including Hawke's Bay on Monday night. Photo / NZME

We've run out of houses, and now it looks like we are running out of power.

What the heck is going on in New Zealand?

I really can't believe what happened on Monday night. A night that, I think, was one of the coldest nights of the year. The day had been bone-chilling cold and as evening approached the temperature dropped even further.

There had been snow warnings, wind warning, road closures all day. MetService knew what was going on. We all knew we were in for a cold day and a colder night.

It seems the only ones that didn't realise demand for power was going to skyrocket was Transpower NZ.

Recently the Government announced its electric vehicle rebate scheme which meant from July this year people buying new EVs get a nice rebate (as much as $8625).

All these new EVs will of course be plugged into the grid as are thousands of households who once had wood burners but are now running heat pumps because they have been told it's better for the environment.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.

A grid that last night proved it can't even cope with consumer demand now.

I was one of the lucky ones. Power stayed on at my house, but thousands of people around the country including in Hawke's Bay were not so lucky. Around 6pm they were plunged into the cold and dark.

We've all had power cuts and we always cope but consumers - well, this one anyway - understands why there's no power when there's a weather event and power lines come down, or a car hits a power pole.

But to have power cut because there was "not have enough generation in the system to maintain that demand" is unbelievable.

A story on the NZ Herald website said: "Transpower NZ issued a note on its Facebook page telling customers that, as the manager of the power system (the system operator), it had asked distribution companies to reduce the load across the country."

Remember what happened during the Havelock North water crisis when social media was used to alert people about not drinking the water? It didn't work.

Not everyone is glued to social media, especially at 6pm when the lights started going out. People are bathing children, cooking dinner, heating their homes with heat pumps after being at work all day.

I'd love to know how they chose who was going to stay warm and who wasn't. I felt for the elderly, many of whom already scrimp on power using blankets instead of heating to stay warm.

I realise it didn't last long but, in my opinion, it shouldn't have happened at all and I look forward to hearing what strategies the power companies are going to put in place to prevent this from happening next time the temperature plummets.

One last question: If people buying EVs get a rebate, do the people who had their power turned off on Monday night get a rebate?

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.