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The meagre trickle of water into the southern hydro lakes this year took its toll on the profitability of Meridian Energy, normally the jewel in the crown of the state-owned generators.
At $128 million its profit was little more than half the previous year's as it was forced to buy expensive power on the wholesale market to make up the shortfall from its own generation plant.
But its northern counterparts, Mighty River Power and Genesis Energy, yesterday reported healthy gains in earnings.
Genesis, which owns the big, old coal-fired plant at Huntly and a new gas-fired one next door, benefited from increased output and higher prices, lifting net profit 11 per cent to $99 million. The Huntly plants' reliability and scale were critical in getting the country through the winter, Genesis chairman Brian Corban said.
Consumers were asked to conserve power and the biggest power user, the Bluff aluminium smelter, cut its load by 10 per cent.
Overall the state-owned generators' profits were down 21 per cent on the previous year.
Their combined dividend cheque to the Government is likely to be cut by $200 million, or more than half, compared with the past year when Meridian alone paid nearly $300 million.
