Christchurch dips to -6°C overnight, as residents urged to conserve power

Graphic: Metservice:

Christchurch city dipped to -6°C overnight, in what has been described as unseasonably cold weather.

Transpower urged New Zealanders to conserve power on Friday morning, because of demand.

On Friday morning, Chief Executive Alison Andrew said “we're tight on our system, running right on the line.”

The company asked for Kiwis to conserve power from 7am and 9am.

The Energy Minister urged New Zealanders to conserve electricity this morning, while Act Party leader David Seymour called the power potential cuts “Third World stuff.”

The Consumer Advocacy Council said Transpower’s warning was a “timely reminder for the industry and regulators to tackle the problem of securing reliable, year-round renewable energy supply”.

Chairwoman Deborah Hart said “it’s disappointing this has happened so early in the winter, but it’s a timely wake-up call for the industry.

We have a long-term challenge in New Zealand to manage winter peak demands as our population grows and the country electrifies.”

-9.7˚C in Cass (inland Canterbury) was the coldest temperature we observed on Friday morning according to NIWA.

-7.7˚C Medbury (Canterbury) [2nd coldest May temperature on record since records began in 1927]
-7.5˚C Waipara North (Canterbury)
-6.9˚C Balmoral East (Canterbury)
-6.6˚C Middlemarch (Otago)
-6.3˚C Appleby (Tasman) [2nd coldest May temperature on record since records began in 1940]
-6.3˚C Hanmer Forest (Canterbury)
-6.2˚C Waiau (Canterbury)
-5.9˚C Cheviot (Canterbury)
-5.8˚C Lake Tekapo (Canterbury)
-5.7˚C Clyde (Otago)
-5.5˚C Culverden (Canterbury)
-5.3˚C Cromwell (Otago)
-5.0˚C Rangiora (Canterbury)
-4.9˚C Taumarunui (Waikato) [equal-2nd coldest May temperature on record since records began in 1947]
-4.9˚C Mt Rupehu Chateau
-4.6˚C Ranfurly (Otago)
-4.4˚C Lincoln (Canterbury)