Country struggling to reach 5pc saving

By TONY GEE and NZPA

National energy savings have dipped to less than half the 10 per cent target set by the Government to avoid power blackouts.

Energy Minister Pete Hodgson has urged the country to conserve energy because low hydro-lake levels in the South Island and a lack of rain have placed extreme pressure on power generation.

He has said 10 per cent savings over 10 weeks should get the country through the crisis.

But figures from electricity watchdog M-Co show national power savings on Friday were just 3.9 per cent and Saturday was only a fraction better at 4.4 per cent.

Last Sunday, the average national saving was 10.45 per cent but it dropped as the week progressed and the country reeled under a southerly storm.

M-Co spokeswoman Jane Tronson said it was clear the poor weather had reduced the savings.

"We really want people to be sensible but not to freeze. Even when it's cold they can still make sure the lights are turned off and that sort of thing.

"There's a bit more to do but the hydro-lake levels are still holding although expected rain is still some way off."

She expected savings to increase as the weather warmed this week.

Meanwhile, businesses are being targeted by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

Authority chief executive Heather Staley said more than 14,000 businesses employing 10 or more staff would receive an information pack showing how to save power.

The packs included switch-off stickers and wall posters reminding staff to switch off equipment. A free educational video was also available.

"They have to conserve electricity just like everyone else and in some cases the small business sector has not yet responded as well as it might," she said.

* In the Far North, switching off may turn on jobs for 40 secondary school students.

Contact Energy is offering $200,000 to pay for 40 school-to-work scholarships if its 24,000 Far North district customers can reduce power consumption by 10 per cent over a 30-day period to September 13.

Once power savings by local business and residential consumers pass 4 per cent, Contact will provide scholarship funding to a maximum of $200,000 for 10 per cent power saved compared with use in July.

The Contact money will be distributed through Far North electricity line company Top Energy in Kaikohe and Top Energy's owner, consumer-based Bay of Islands Electric Power Trust, to Far North employers involved in pastoral farming, tourism, forestry, horticulture, aquaculture-fishing and service provision.

These industries were identified in an economic development strategy for Northland as the ones most likely to offer the region the best opportunities for growth.

Power trust chairman Brian Thorburn said if 10 per cent power savings were made by the target date, the Contact scholarships would be worth $5000 each to 40 students, who would work for employers, giving them work experience during the students' sixth and seventh form years.

Employers would have to match the $5000 cash grant by providing students with paid holiday jobs and workplace mentors who would assess their capability to advance to full-time work or apprenticeships, within the same businesses if possible.

Mr Thorburn said the school-to-work scholarships were similar to Skill New Zealand's "Gateway" programme, but the Far North concept would give the scholarships to promising students rather than to schools.

"We want to keep promising students at school a year longer than they might otherwise have stayed," Mr Thorburn said. Already, 11 Far North secondary schools have endorsed the Contact scholarships.

Feature: Electricity

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority