Minister of Energy

27 June 2006

Transpower report released

Energy Minister David Parker today made public the reports provided by Transpower about the outage in Auckland on June 12.

Mr Parker said some questions were not answered by Transpower's report.

"For example, was there meant to be and was there in practice a physical inspection of the shackles from a close enough position to see that they were corroding? That is an issue left open in the SKM report, and I have asked Connell Wagner to investigate that."

Mr Parker said remedial work had been completed at Otahuhu and other parts of Auckland was underway in Auckland and the rest of the country to make sure there were no similar problems in other substations.

"In addition to these urgent repairs, we're investigating what is the best option for improving the diversity of supply into Auckland and reducing the risk of problems at Otahuhu caused by lines crossing each other and the exposed circuits."

The reports released today are being reviewed by Connell Wagner for the Government, and that report is expected by July 6.

ENDS

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