Today's
massive power failure in Auckland and Hamilton shows just
how fragile New Zealand's transmission system has become,
says National's Energy spokesman Nick Smith.
"Storms and
accidents will inevitably knock down lines but the system
should be designed and maintained to always have an
alternative circuit available.
"Overhead earthwires
brought down by the weather caused Auckland to grind to a
halt today. That's not good enough.
"Consulting engineer
Bryan Leyland has blamed a lack of investment in the grid
for the problem, and pointed out Auckland's
vulnerability.
"Engineers have been warning the Government
for years that the level of investment in transmission has
not been sufficient to keep up with growth, particularly in
the upper North Island.
"Meridian Energy chief executive
Keith Turner said in February last year that 'New Zealand's
electricity grid is so overworked that some lines cannot be
taken out of action for servicing. That is unheard of in
the Western developed world.'
"The cost of this
electricity failure will amount to tens of millions of
dollars for the Auckland economy - as well as the human cost
of delayed medical operations, lost schooling and personal
inconvenience," says Dr Smith.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
"This is a warning shot
that Auckland's electricity infrastructure is nearly as bad
as its roads.
"Can the Energy Minister reassure the
public of Auckland that this won't happen again?
"The
system should be able to cope with a storm of this sort and
National will be following the issue up with more questions
about not only went wrong, but why there were no backup
systems in place."
If you're using Scoop for work, your organisation needs to pay a small license fee with Scoop Pro. We think that's fair, because your organisation is benefiting from using our news resources. In return, we'll also give your team access to pro news tools and keep Scoop free for personal use, because public access to news is important!