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Consumers

Electricity consumers range from large industrial sites (the most significant is the NZAS aluminium smelter at Tiwai) down to individual households. Total electricity consumption in New Zealand is nearly 40,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) per annum.

Electricity consumption varies from year to year, but the overall trend in recent years has been an increase of approximately 1.5 - 2% per year.  In dry periods, consumers have made voluntary savings which has brought consumption down below the trend line.

Technological progress has an impact on electricity consumption. In recent years, consumption by appliances such as heat pumps and televisions has increased. On the other hand, there have also been improvements in efficiency. For example, modern electric lighting, heat recovery systems and motors are significantly more efficient than their predecessors.  Improved electricity efficiency is expected to play an increasingly important role in future security of supply and sustainability.

Electricity consumption is typically divided into three sectors: residential, commercial and industrial.  Industrial and commercial users account for two thirds of total demand, but only slightly more than 25% by customer numbers.

Consumption follows strong daily and seasonal patterns.  At low demand times such as a summer night, total demand may be as low as 2,600 MW, whereas at peak times it can exceed 6,500 MW.  While electricity use has historically been highest on cold winter evenings, some regions now have summer peak as a result of increasing use of irrigation and domestic air conditioning.

A ‘typical' demand profile for a domestic consumer sees domestic load increasing in the mornings when people are starting out the day and peaking again in the evenings after work, once they are back at home starting to prepare meals.

Industrial loads have very different profiles, depending on the nature of the business. 

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