Some areas are on the fringes of the national energy grid. 

An Official Information Request shows Transpower indicated to Energy Minister Simeon Brown it could cost 500-million dollars to get a new line to the Coromandel. 

In places like Northland and Coromandel,  there are only one or two lines - putting some infrastructure at risk. 

Engineering New Zealand electrical expert Daniel Jardine told Mike Hosking there are projects under way to connect the area, with generators and connecting grid-scale solar farms. 

He says in Northland the risk is the problem. 

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