A farmers' group in the Waikato has given warning that an $824m pylon project due to start next month may lead to standoffs with Transpower.

Police confiscated eleven guns belonging to Waikato farmer Steve Meier as a "precautionary step" when they accompanied Transpower contractors onto his land.

Farmer Steve Meier blames Transpower for yesterday's power cuts, saying he warned five years ago that a fire would happen - but Transpwer says Mr Meier is the most difficult person in NZ to deal with.

A tidal power station on the Kaipara Harbour seafloor could be providing power to a quarter of a million homes by the end of the decade.

Transport innovations are needed for New Zealand to survive a looming oil supply squeeze.

Power companies' intentions to build new power stations have collapsed over the past year, writes Patrick Smellie of Businesswire.

The Government's shake up of the electricity sector could be the last chance the competitive pricing model has, says Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin.

The Government is confident its shakeup of the electricity market will slow increases in power prices ... but it is making no promises about them coming down.

The electricity sector is in for the most comprehensive overhaul since the late 1990s.

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee says a big energy company shake-up is designed to give more power to consumers.

The Government has unveiled a shake up of the state owned power companies in an attempt to get more competition into the electricity sector.

Contact Energy is ringing in the New Year by increasing its gas prices for about 65,000 residential and business users.