NZ lighting technology has saved the Countdown supermarket chain's owner almost $500,000 a year in energy costs in two of its buildings.

Investors who took up shares in newly listed Mighty River Power and Meridian will take little comfort from PwC's latest report on the electricity sector.

The decade-long surge in big wind farm building in New Zealand is nearing an end with no new projects in the pipeline as the sector booms around the world.

Parts of Waikato will be without power today as urgent repairs are carried out on the Transpower network.

The Government, fresh from the sale of shares in Mighty River Power and Meridian Energy, faces a harder sell when it comes to divesting a 49 per cent stake in the third and final power generator.

Hundreds of thousands of Transpower customers lost power today when backup measures failed to kick in while the company simulated a "catastrophic power failure".

Meridian Energy's instalment receipts have continued to hold firm, helped by buying interest from Bank of New York Mellon Corp, through its London-based subsidiary, Newton Investment.

Consumers shelling out as much as $30 for an LED lightbulb are being caught out by a lack of regulation.

A man died in the Far North after he climbed a power pole and touched wires connected to a 11,000 volt transformer following a fight with his girlfriend.

Farmers Jan and Barry Inwood put a dozen beers under their damaged power lines after a fierce storm left them in the dark.

Transpower has appointed chemical company executive Alison Andrew to replace chief executive Patrick Strange.

When Meridian chief executive Mark Binns says the country's biggest power generator has some "grunty" assets, he's not kidding.

Retail investors are being offered Meridian Energy shares at a dividend yield of 6.5 per cent this financial year and 7.2 per cent next year.

Businesses in Avondale are without power and residents are being urged to save electricity while urgent network repairs are carried out this morning.

The Government's decision to move earlier than signalled on the Meridian Energy float shows there is positive interest in the float but pricing will remain key

Treasury advised the Government not to pay the owners of the Tiwai Point smelter to keep the business running, documents released this afternoon show.

Thousands of senior citizens are set to get lower power bills with the launch today of Grey Power Electricity.

Five months after the first share float of Mighty River Power a referendum on asset sales is to go ahead - news accidentally tweeted by the Greens co-leader.

No sooner had Mark Binns taken over as chief executive of Meridian Energy in January last year, than he was confronted with the lowest inflows into its hydro lakes in more than 80 years.

Funding generated by the Government's asset sales programme now extends to the $40 million bill for the Mighty River share loyalty bonus scheme.

Meridian Energy could be listed on the sharemarket before the end of October after clearing a big hurdle by finalising contract talks over the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter.