In the latest monthly report, Meridian Energy said in the month to March 9, national hydro storage decreased from 117% to 110% of historical average.
The spilling of water in the Waitaki system had ceased at the start of last month but the lakes were still quite full.
South Island hydro storage decreased to 102% of average.
In the North Island, hydro storage increased to 169%, as a major weather event swamped much of the North Island.
Meridian Energy chief executive Mike Roan said although inflows eased during February there was still plenty of water about.
‘‘This is the first below-average month in the past six.
‘‘Storage levels remain robust, leaving the system well placed heading into autumn,’’ he said.
Last year, the first three months of the year were the driest on record but it was almost the opposite this year.
A storm which hit most of the country in the middle of February, termed the ‘‘Valentine’s Storm’’, was a deep low-pressure system that brought widespread and intense rainfall.
Despite prolonged periods of settled weather, rainfall was above average across large parts of the country because of the storm.
In contrast, inland parts of the South Island were notably drier.
Last month was the coolest February since 2012.
This led to more snow being around.
Meridian Energy keeps statistics on the snowpack that feeds into its system.
Normally melted by this time of year, current snow storage in Meridian’s Waitaki catchment is at 95GWh (gigawatt hours) as of earlier this month.
That was the equivalent of about four days’ worth of average inflows for this time of year into Lake Tekapō, Pūkaki and Ōhau, or about 0.75m of storage to Pūkaki.
To date this financial year, total inflows are 129% of average and Meridian Energy’s Waitaki catchment water storage at the end of February was 111% of average
Storage in the Waiau catchment was 82% of average at the end of February
National electricity demand in February 2026 was 0.5% lower than February 2025.
This was mainly caused by a drop in demand from the agriculture industry with a lower demand for irrigation.
