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Electricity companies worked against "national interest" to boost profits during last winter's power crisis, a new report has revealed. A 2008 Winter Group report for the Electricity Commission said power companies allowed hydro-lake levels to drop and refused to pay for other generation methods, driving prices higher.
Commission chairman David Caygill said the companies likely to have created the most difficulty were state-owned Meridian and Contact, a largely Australian-owned firm.
A spokesman for Contact Energy said: "We believe we ran our thermal stations as hard as we could given we were constrained by reserve requirements and transmission issues." The company also reactivated generation in New Plymouth. Meridian Energy did not return calls.
The spectre of rolling blackouts loomed as lakes became emptier. Contact allowed its hydro scheme to drain the South Island's Lake Hawea to its lowest point for decades while warning power prices were going to rise.
Caygill said his organisation wanted new rules to ensure New Zealand's power supply was no longer threatened by commercial priorities.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee was waiting on a Commerce Commission review before carrying out reform.
