Energy

The three district councils bordering the Waitaki River oppose the Government's plan to force Meridian Energy to hand over its two Tekapo power stations to Genesis Energy, fearing it poses significant risk to their communities' futures.

Power prices will need to be raised by 4 to 5 percent a year to cover the costs of building new power plants, Contact Energy says.

Large Southland water users could face an annual charge of up to $50,000 should Environment Southland succeed in recouping from users $900,000 it spends on water research and monitoring.

Shaun Bowler extols the virtues of "wood energy".

Shell and Mobil have increased their petrol and diesel prices by 3 cents per litre this afternoon, bringing the price of fuel to its highest level in 18 months.

Both companies reviewed their prices after BP and Caltex hiked the cost of petrol by 5 cents a litre today and diesel by 3c a litre - the second price rise in a week.

Electricity has been restored to parts of Wellington's central business district affected by a power cut this afternoon.

Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee says the Maari Oil Field is proving a success story of the petroleum sector, having produced 6.5 million barrels of oil for export in its first year of production.

The Government remains tight-lipped on the contents of its wide-ranging "stocktake" mineral report - likely to be one of the more contentious environmental issues this year - which is due to be released by the end of the month.

Infrastructure company Vector lifted half year net profit from continuing activities 11.6 percent to $101 million, helped by lower borrowing costs.

A prototype of a solar heating system designed to store summer heat for winter use is being built into a new house in a subdivision at Ravensbourne, Dunedin.