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The power industry and regulators need to secure a reliable, year-round renewable energy supply, the Consumer Advocacy Council says.
It comes as Transpower warns households that unless they conserve electricity, they could face possible power cuts on Friday.
"It's disappointing this has happened so early in the winter, but it's a timely wake-up call for the industry," Consumer Advocacy Council chairperson Deborah Hart said.
"We have a long term challenge in New Zealand to manage winter peak demands as our population grows and the country electrifies. The council's view is that fundamental change is needed to the wholesale market - there must be sufficient renewable energy available all year round."
The early warning was welcome, as it gave the industry time to react, she said.
"Doing this 24 hours out from any projected shortage of supply is sensible - it does give the industry time to react and head off the worst possible result - power having to be cut to consumers.
"Consumers too can do their bit to ease pressure on the system, but ultimately it is the industry that needs to take the lead at these times of pressure."
Without making any progress, a heavy price would be paid by consumers, she said.
"The solutions lie in the hands of the industry, the government and regulators. If we don't make progress, there will be more warnings like today and a heavy price will be paid by consumers, small and large."
Transpower chief executive general manager Chantelle Bramley said the whole industry was coming together to avoid power cuts.
"This time of year can be challenging, generators are taking necessary scheduled outages to do maintenance on their power plants prior to winter, they have to do maintenance on these plants."
It was unseasonably cold weather, she said.
"We will work with lines companies to, as a last resort, switch off power to locations for a short period of time."
Asked if she could guarantee this would not happen during the colder months, Bramley said no.
"No power system can absolutely guarantee supply but as we've seen today, when industry comes together we can make sure there is enough in the system."
Cold start
MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said "The current cold spell isn't going anywhere, and tonight will likely be the coldest of the lot. However, plenty of clear skies are in store for the end of the week. For Friday, showers are forecast for southern and eastern areas as a weak front moves north, but we are expecting widespread dry weather for the weekend.
"A relief from these chilly conditions is on the horizon, as southerly winds ease over the weekend, but the remaining cold air is forecast to stick around into next week.
"These cold nights are set to a continue for a while, but warmer, wetter weather should return later in the week."
The weekend was expected to be cold but dry with light winds for much of the country.