Power-savers told to keep warm and healthy

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

People have taken the power saving message to heart this winter.

Even the savage Antarctic blast of the last few days failed to push electricity use to high levels.

This prompted Dr Patrick Strange, head of the Winter Power Taskforce, to say: "It is time for people to make sure they keep warm and healthy."

Demand at the weekend was up 6 per cent on the previous Saturday and 10 per cent on the Sunday.

"They were not huge swings," said Dr Strange, whose taskforce wound up its Target 10 power savings campaign on June 19.

Although still advising people to be prudent in their power use, Dr Strange is not pushing the Target 10 message of two months ago. Hydro lake levels of just 61 per cent of average and a lack of Maui gas to fuel power stations had raised the spectre of power cuts.

Faced with the prospect of cold showers and power rationing, many consumers responded to the conservation message. Once a savings habit built up it could go on for six months, Dr Strange said yesterday.

He did not expect to revive the campaign.

Lakes were "in much better shape" and milder weather was forecast between cold snaps so the need to save power was not as urgent.

Wayne Eagleson, spokesman for national grid operator Transpower, said electricity use was significantly lower so far than at peak times last winter.

"But last year the lakes were full and there was no campaign to save power," he said.

School holidays always lead to an increase in electricity use.

But Transpower officials do not expect a repeat of what happens in Britain - a great upsurge of power use when Coronation Street fans leap up to put the kettle on during ad breaks during a keenly watched episode.

"Our system will be able to meet whatever the demand will be," said Mr Eagleson.

The evening electricity peaks were between 5 and 7.30 and the widespread use of video recorders meant power use tended to flatten out, he said.

"A number of years ago for events like test matches you could notice the difference when people got up at half-time to make a cup of tea."

But that was no longer so obvious.

Many parts of the country woke to severe frosts yesterday after the widespread snow, sleet, rain and icy temperatures of the previous days.

And an unlucky few in remote areas were still without power.

During the worst of the weekend chill, thousands of North Island homes lost their power.

All 20,000 Gisborne and East Coast connections were cut for half an hour on Sunday morning when snow caused a fault on Transpower's Tuai-Gisborne line.

Contractors, helped by extra staff from Hawkes Bay and Rotorua, battled yesterday to reinstate up to 2000 households where lines were still affected by snow and high winds.

Several helicopters were used to reach out-of-the-way hill areas.

By last night, fewer than 100 Eastland Network consumers had still to be reconnected.

Eastland acting chief executive Brent Stewart said most were rural or forestry properties around Matawai and out the back of Wairoa.

They were coping as best they could.

"They are self-sufficient, enterprising people," he said.

Damage to Powerco's networks in the Wairarapa and in Taranaki, which were hard hit by Saturday's storm, has been repaired.

Supply was restored to all but about 100 scattered consumers on Sunday evening and the remainder were back on line by yesterday afternoon.