The raw potential for alternative energy in New Zealand - including harnessing the tides of Otago Harbour - has captured the attention of an international energy consultancy firm in the United Kingdom.
Multibillion-dollar plans for a lignite-to-diesel conversion plant and urea plant in Southland are so significant the Government could fast-track their resource consents, Gore District Council mayor Tracy Hicks says.
Southern lignite and New Zealand's economic recovery led by the oil and gas sector were the major talking points during presentations at the New Zealand Petroleum Conference in Auckland yesterday.
Contact Energy lost more than 2000 Dunedin customers in the same quarter it controversially hiked prices by more than 9%, the latest Economic Development Ministry electricity price survey suggests.
Geological issues have led to a rethink of a proposed major new power scheme on the lower Waitaki River.
More electricity was generated from geothermal sources in the three months to June than at any other time in New Zealand's history, Economic Development Ministry figures reveal.
Otago's first wind farm will be supplying electricity to Dunedin by early next winter, TrustPower chief executive Vince Hawksworth says.
New Zealand is unlikely to meet the Government target of 90% of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2025, the Institute of Professional Engineers (Ipenz) and University of Otago energy studies programme director Bob Lloyd say.
Many of those asking questions at an Otago Energy Research Centre forum on lignite mining in the southern region may have left feeling none the wiser last night.
Moves to speed up the time it takes to switch power companies might mean fewer claims of strong-arm tactics by rivals but could cost people more and may even run counter to consumer law, industry insiders say.
Pulse Energy owner Pulse Utilities has launched a no-frills, cut-price brand that could be in the South by next year.
Householders, businesses and the public service will be encouraged to save energy to help make New Zealand as energy efficient as its OECD partners, a pair of updated government strategies released yesterday reveal.
The issue of whether water should be granted for a new $1 billion power scheme on the lower Waitaki River was back before the Environment Court again yesterday in Oamaru.
The Environment Court this week will still have to settle some issues relating to conditions on resource consents granted for Meridian Energy's proposed $1 billion power scheme on the lower Waitaki River.
The Government's biodiesel grants scheme is being extended, Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said today.
The form of regulatory oversight being proposed by the Commerce Commission for Transpower is not dissimilar to that provided under an administrative settlement that expires in mid-2011.
Contact's latest and "alarming" power price increase suggests electricity reforms have failed and should push the Government one step closer to a comprehensive inquiry, Dunedin South MP Clare Curran says.
Another electricity retailer is eyeing Dunedin as part of a southern expansion that could take it as far south as Invercargill.
Dunedin business customers mistakenly offered drastically discounted power if they agreed to switch to Mercury Energy want more time to consider the company's latest offer.
The commercial practices of energy generators were put under the microscope at a commerce select committee meeting in Parliament today.