Peters to Meridian: Explain
Minister for State-Owned Enterprises Winston Peters says he is ‘‘shocked and concerned’’ at the preliminary finding that Meridian Energy had pushed up power prices in December by unnecessarily spilling water from its South Island dams that could have been used for electricity generation.
The Electricity Authority said the ‘‘undesirable trading situation’’ could have resulted in other electricity retailers paying an extra $80 million for power on the wholesale market, though the final cost could not yet be determined.
‘‘It is utterly unacceptable that
Meridian Energy have been found by the Electricity Authority to have, essentially, gerrymandered the market for profit,’’ Peters said.
‘‘The Meridian board chair and chief executive have been told to front up to my office and explain themselves before the House rises on August 6.
‘‘It is a damning preliminary finding . . . and there is something very wrong with the regulation of the energy market when it takes a complaint for market manipulations to be investigated and acted upon.’’
Peters said the mixedownership model in the energy sector was ‘‘always a recipe for disaster for consumers’’.
‘‘Spilling water while generating below capacity resulted in higher wholesale prices as well as relying on more costly coal-fired generation out of Huntly power station,’’ he said. ‘‘As one complainant put it, the result of Meridian’s action was about 6000 tonnes of additional carbon emissions, the equivalent of about 50,000 Toyota Corollas chugging around our roads during that December period.
‘‘It is unsatisfactory, and longsuffering energy consumers deserve better.’’
Meridian Energy acting chief executive Guy Waipara has previously said the company would review the authority’s preliminary decision and make a submission as part of its consultation process.