Don't blame blackout on red tape, says Cullen

The Otahuhu substation failure that left Auckland powerless could not be blamed on excessive Government regulation making it too difficult to upgrade the country's power lines, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen.

High winds on June 12, coupled with two corroded shackles at the substation, brought down earth wires, cutting power to most of Auckland.

In Parliament yesterday, National Party leader Don Brash asked how national grid operator Transpower could be expected to manage and upgrade the grid in the face of increased regulation from the Commerce and Electricity commissions, and an "overly onerous" Resource Management Act (RMA).

Dr Cullen replied that changes were made to the RMA last year in a bid to make things easier for bodies such as Transpower, and in any case, it was not the legislation that had caused the blackout.

"It's quite clear that the failure that occurred in Auckland was not a consequence of the RMA - it was a consequence of reliance upon a single process through the Otahuhu station."

But Dr Brash was unimpressed.

"When will [Prime Minister Helen Clark] stop making excuses and passing the buck for every single infrastructure issue in this country," he asked.

Energy Minister David Parker released Transpower's own report into the blackout on Tuesday.

The report is to be independently reviewed by July 6 after which Transpower will decided what steps to take.

The options Transpower will consider include improving the Otahuhu substation, putting a new link into Penrose and Albany, and a new eastern power corridor using the proposed Waikato 400KV line into Pakuranga.

- NZPA