The blackout which affected thousands of North Island households two weeks ago was shocking in part because blackouts have become so rare. Keeping the lights on requires an almost perfect balance of electricity supplied to and taken from the grid every second of every day. Read more
Germany will go to the polls on September 26. But that is about the only thing you can count on. Read more
Wellington (Monday, 23August 2021): Improving water quality requires more than short-term fixes, concludes a new report released today by the New Zealand Initiative. Any Government committed to improving New Zealand’s freshwater quality must build the institutions that can deliver it while withstanding changes in Government. Read more
An independent review of the Overseer farm management tool concluded that the software package is far from ideal for Council water quality management. Providing a relatively coarse view of nutrient loss from farms, Overseer can help farms in improving on-farm practice. Read more
Providing future generations with rivers and aquifers at least as clean as our generation found them requires durable freshwater management systems that can stand the test of time. Regulatory measures can improve outcomes for now. Read more
Events have rather overtaken last week’s blackout. The outage on the evening of 9 August left 35,000 households in the dark for up to two hours on the coldest night of the year. Read more
The best option in a bad state of the world is not going to be great. But taking it up is still the best response – while working to reduce the risk of it happening again. Read more
The Euro 2020 football tournament will be remembered for the trophy not coming home. But before England fell agonisingly at the last hurdle, the headlines were focused on the actions of Portuguese football superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 18 August 2021): A review of last week’s blackout by Carl Hansen, the former Chief Executive of the Electricity Authority (EA), argues for a sober and careful analysis of why 35,000 consumers lost power for up to two hours on 9 August. In a research paper published today by the New Zealand Initiative, Mr Hansen states “It is essential the Government allows the independent market regulator to identify and address any problems found.” “It is also important the Opposition take a mature approach and resist the temptation to jump to conclusions and call for Ministerial heads to roll.” At 6:48pm, Transpower asked lines companies to reduce demand by 1%, and followed up this request with a formal notice at 7:09pm. Read more
Last week, on Monday 9 August, very cold weather over most of the country meant national electricity demand reached a record high. About 35,000 consumers (1.75% of consumers) experienced power outages between 7 – 9 pm. Read more
Something always allocates. When anything is relatively scarce, something has to decide how the scarce thing is used: who gets it, who doesn’t, and what might encourage more of the scarce thing to be provided. Read more
It was a small achievement but one that made climate change minister James Shaw proud. Last week, Wellington’s CentrePort deployed its first seven all-electric container movers. Read more
Today is a special anniversary. On this day, 60 years ago, the Berlin Wall was built. Read more
Ben Craven talks to New Zealand Initiative Senior Fellow Dr David Law about the implications of rising inflation, and how a different type of mortgage could make it more affordable to get on the housing ladder. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
What is the most successful Volkswagen (VW) model? No, it is not the Golf, not the Tiguan and not the all-electric ID.3. Read more