Night-time power cuts leave us cold

Not a week goes past when I don’t field calls from people dissatisfied about issues that they would obviously love me to vent through this fortnightly column.

Some are big and ongoing, like skyrocketing rates, the ongoing Waimea dam blowout, the Three Waters reforms (which the auditorgeneral has now thankfully raised issues about), or the Tasman District Council’s proposed application of Significant Landscapes, perceived by most landowners as just overlapping protection producing more paperwork and compliance costs.

These issues resonate for many as little more than bullshit managerialism – in the Three Waters case, overriding our fair access to a commons resource.

But what will National do? I suspect their solution will be to sell off our waters as a corporate resource.

Local access issues in particular get people riled up, and I get earfuls about them. The barrier arm to get to the boat ramp at Port Tarakohe; the new penguin fence on the breakwater there; the obstruction of beach access by a private owner at Fenwick Rd in Rangihaeata; the TDC’s intention to make farmers in the region apply for a resource consent to shift stock along a road (even to just take them across the road – how silly is that one?).

The list of gripes is now nearendless, surely a sign of the increasingly combative times we live in.

One person mentioned to me how he’d seen a couple of wild pigs on a firebreak at Parapara, so he rang the Māori owners of the forestry block to see if he could shoot them, only to be informed that hunting was reserved for iwi only.

Fair enough, I thought. Farmers often reserve their land for family members to shoot on – what’s wrong with that? Māori land is not government land – it’s for the use and benefit of its tribal owners.

One interesting and thoughtprovoking letter I got recently came from Golden Bay senior and decades-long Network Tasman customer Helen McKinlay, concerned about the electricity supplier’s recent night-time power cuts, the latest being over the night of Thursday, July 28, from 11pm to 3am.

An experienced registered nurse and midwife, Helen said she was gobsmacked when she heard about the planned power cut in the midst of winter, especially with the rise in Omicron and flu levels, and our hospitals at their limits. Was this the new norm?, she found herself asking.

Helen rang Meridian, her electricity retailer, which had initially informed her of the cuts. ‘‘They were very helpful and checked that I wasn’t ‘medically dependent’ on any form of electrical lifesaving apparatus.’’

She said it wasn’t clear what Meridian would do if she was, but she later found that information on the company’s website:

Bad weather or outages mean that power cuts will happen. It’s important your household takes responsibility for ensuring that alternative options such as battery power or a generator are available during an outage. Alternatively, you can relocate to a friend or family member’s house that has power on.

Meridian also advises to get to a hospital in an emergency. Helen’s response to that? ‘‘Not so easy or even sensible in times of Omicron and hospitals under pressure, let alone in the middle of the night.’’

To be fair, Meridian’s advice is the same as what Contact Energy and all other similar ranking electricity retailers give to their ‘‘medically dependent’’ (those relying on power for equipment that keeps them alive) and ‘‘vulnerable’’ customers, ‘‘vulnerable’’ being the term they use for those whose health is at higher risk without power.

Power companies have also long offered guarantees not to cut off power for non-payment of a bill when ‘‘vulnerable’’ customers are involved.

But Helen’s big concern about the night-time outages is that far more people are made vulnerable.

‘‘It could be the sick baby or adult, those living in poorly insulated accommodation, people unable to speak up, let alone seek help with a backup plan,’’ she told me.

‘‘People across age groups. The elderly and/or disabled, the frail person reliant on a caregiver to get them out of bed, the older person who recently had a serious fall after their bathroom light failed.’’

Helen felt so strongly about the issue that she formulated some questions and sent them to Network Tasman – which, to its credit, answered the following day.

I think the good thing about discussion is that both sides get to air their views – in this case, Network Tasman explaining to Helen that electricity is not a seasonal industry.

‘‘We carry out maintenance yearround, and have outages somewhere on our network most days,’’ a spokesperson said. ‘‘In Golden Bay, we try to accommodate the dairy and tourism industries as much as possible.’’ Essentially, night outages are far less disruptive to daytime jobs and commerce.

The lines company also explained that the recent night-time outage was not setting a precedent – it was simply neither practical or preferable to carry out pole or line work in the dark. The scope for scheduled night-time work is limited to areas that can be effectively floodlit – generally places like substations or ground-based assets.

As for ‘‘vulnerable’’ customers: ‘‘We are aware that there are ‘vulnerable’ people who rely on power ... and, as you have pointed out, vulnerability can be situational and ... for some, a power outage affects their vulnerability. We hope that by providing ample notice, all customers can make arrangements for their situation.’’

Network Tasman concluded by saying: ‘‘We have no intention of making night work the norm. We apologise for the impact this outage will have on you and on the Golden Bay community, and appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.’’

Helen says: ‘‘For me, information empowers, so thank you, Network Tasman and Meridian. I still feel there is a large gap that still needs to be filled, especially as the effects of climate change cause more power outages.

‘‘Maybe power retailers and electrical distributors could put some of their considerable assets into making easy-to-use battery- or solarpowered backup equipment available. In this day and age, all members of our community matter.’’

Essentially, night outages are far less disruptive to daytime jobs and commerce.