The Electricity Authority's making urgent changes, ahead of the winter energy price spike

Wholesale power prices skyrocketed last winter due to power shortages, contributing to the closures of multiple wood and paper mills.

The authority's now giving Transpower greater information-gathering powers to help its management of supply risks.

It's also updating scarcity pricing settings, to ensure the correct signals can be quickly changed in the wholesale market if a shortage occurs.

Wholesale manager Jeremy Cain says we are better prepared for this winter than last year, but hydro inflows are currently the lowest on record for this time of year.