Kiwis broke record for power use last night during Antarctic blast

June 30, 2021
Crown Range Road covered in snow as a polar blast makes its way across the country.

The Antarctic blast resulted in New Zealanders breaking the record for peak demand on the nation’s power grid last night. 

Air coming from the ice shelf caused snow to fall in areas across the country including Wellington, while parts of the capital’s southern coastline were pummelled by 6.5 metre swells.

Transpower said the country recorded the highest peak demand on the grid of 6924 megawatts (MW) at 6pm as Kiwis attempted to stave off the cold. 

This overtook the previous record of 6902 MW, which had stood for nearly 10 years since August 15, 2011, when it snowed in Wellington's CBD.

"In no other years have we seen demand reach the 6900 range," Transpower said. 

Thanks to the Antarctic blast, Kaitaia, Auckland, Tauranga, New Plymouth and Blenheim recorded their coldest night of the year so far.

Blenheim was a balmy -3.4 degrees Celsius, while New Plymouth had -0.6C, Tauranga 1.7C, Auckland 1.3C and Kaitaia 1.9C. 

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