My father used to run an electricity sub-station In New Zealand. When the power supply, went out, he would get phone calls from angry consumers telling him - no demanding - that he do something to fix it.
He would patiently explain to them that the problem was not with the power supply, but with the power boards whose job it was to maintain the supply of electricity to their homes. Could they just contact their power boards?
They simply did not understand.
So, my father would tell them about the Cook Strait Cable.
Power was generated by massive hydro electric dams like Benmore, Tekapo, and Manapouri. This electricity was sent northwards from the South Island of New Zealand across the Cook Strait.
A giant cable lies under the water that separates New Zealand's two main islands. It is this cable that gives power to the cities such as Wellington and Auckland.
Travelling 610km from Lake Benmore on the Waitaki River to Oteranga Bay, near Wellington, the cables supply North Island homes with cheap power from the South Island’s hydroelectric power schemes.
Once the electricity makes its long journey northward, it is sent to a series of switching stations: places where the power that fed the nation would be dispatched and sent to its home - that place that kept your lights on and kept you warm and enabled you to be fed and insulated from the chill of a winter night with that miracle of invention - electricity.
Strong men and hard working men built the dams because New Zealand was granted a gift that few nations could enjoy: the power of hydro-electic energy.
Benmore Power Station at Ōtemātātā, South Island, is the power source for the high voltage direct current link to the North Island. Construction on the Benmore project began in 1958 and the power station was opened in 1965 to coincide with the completion of the Benmore to Haywards H.V.D.C. link. source
The Cook Strait Cable.
Benmore Dam is the largest earth dam in New Zealand and, at 118 metres to crest, is also the highest. Impounded behind it is New Zealand’s largest man-made lake which provides various recreation facilities. In front of the dam the massive pre-stressed concrete penstocks are a unique feature.
But, back to my father.
He ran one of the major switching stations on the North Island. I recollect, with great fondness, his dutiful care as he ensured that all was well in the dispatch of the power.
Every now and again, the electricity supply was lost. Maybe a lightning strike? Maybe a car accident that took down a pole? Power lines would go down and people would ring up and complain about the power outage they were suffering.
So Dad told them about the Cook Strait Cable. He told them about Benmore. He told them about how he had the power but he was unable to distribute it if the Power Board did not fix the lines.
The power was there. It was not the lack of power - more the failure to distribute it.
I wonder: are we in a Cook Strait Cable moment?
We have the power but the lines of communication are down and no one is prepared to fix them.
I suspect that the " POWER boards " ( not power boards you understand ) are the problem.
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