Officials are investigating a proposal which could lead to the Pike River mine being turned into an opencast coal pit stretching into a national park.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall has denied allegations from the Opposition that the former chairman of financially troubled Solid Energy approved a big pay rise for chief executive Don Elder as one of his last acts in the job.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by the New Zealand Maori Council to block the Mighty River Power partial privatisation.

Maybe you've done a backflip or two in your time, but were you ever driving a Mini Cooper at the time?

The former chairman of financially troubled Solid Energy approved a big pay rise for chief executive Don Elder in one of his last acts in the job, Labour claims.

The Government was worried about Solid Energy's ambitious investment plans and rosy view of coal prices as far back as 2009.

Genesis Energy chair Jenny Shipley says the state owned enterprise is ready for partial sale but is coy on whether she will be leading the company on the sharemarket.

Genesis Energy has turned in a tidy-looking result for the six months to December 31, with net profit after tax up 85 per cent to $71 million.

The state-owned electricity generator and retailer yesterday reported an underlying net profit after tax of $88 million for the latest half-year after non-cash items

Meridian Energy says it's ready for partial privatisation and expects a significant uplift in operating earnings after transmission outages knocked its performance.

The Government and Treasury missed the chance to step in and force change at troubled state-owned coal company Solid Energy when problems became apparent to officials and ministers about 18 months ago, the Opposition says.

Prime Minister John Key has denied that the Solid Energy crisis and Telecom job cuts are a black mark against the Government's handling of the economy.

Solid Energy is in crisis, with a Government bailout almost inevitable, mine closures possible and further job cuts likely in another restructure to try to salvage it.

Twice in the past decade, Solid Energy has enjoyed revenue close to $1 billion, and aside from last year has returned some healthy profits - and dividends for the Government.

Solid Energy, the state-owned coal miner whose chief executive quit this month, is in talks with its banks because of its deteriorating financial position.

Contact Energy says it's "not fixated" on the number of redundancies it will make but is still on track to shed 10 per cent of staff.

Economic modelling based on ethanol, which has its limitations as a fuel, may underestimate the potential yields and value added, writes Brian Fallow.

Contact Energy - New Zealand's biggest listed electricity company - plans to cut more than 100 jobs as part of a $40 million cost saving drive.

The Alaska Brewing Company is being a bit clever and using its own brewing process to power the brewery with a unique boiler system.

Fallout from the Mainzeal receivership is hitting listed lines company, Horizon Energy.