Editing New Plymouth (section)

==Industry and utilities==
Electric power was first provided in January 1906 from the Mangorei power station alongside the [[Waiwhakaiho River]] near Burgess Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pukeariki.com/resources/the+alchemy+of+the+engineer+-+by+ron+lambert.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324052314/http://www.pukeariki.com/resources/the+alchemy+of+the+engineer+-+by+ron+lambert.pdf| title=The Alchemy of the Engineer: Taranaki Hydro-electricity| url-status=dead| archive-date=24 March 2006| date=24 March 2006}}</ref> In the 1960s, the [[New Plymouth Power Station]] was initially designed to run on coal but constructed to be fuelled by natural gas or fuel oil. This is a [[thermal power station]] with a steam turbine, commenced operation in 1974 with units progressively decommissioned from 2000 with one left operating in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.contactenergy.co.nz/web/view?page=/contentiw/pages/shared/powerstations&vert=au|publisher=Contact Energy|title=information sheet on New Zealand power stations|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111083754/http://www.contactenergy.co.nz/web/view?page=%2Fcontentiw%2Fpages%2Fshared%2Fpowerstations&vert=au|archive-date=11 November 2007}}</ref>

Companies began searching for oil on the New Plymouth coast in 1865 after small deposits of thick oil were found on the shoreline. The first commercial quantities of oil were obtained in January 1866. Exploration continued sporadically, and a refinery opened in 1913. Production ceased about 1972. The city was one of the original nine towns and cities in New Zealand to be supplied with natural gas when the [[Kapuni|Kapuni gas field]] in South Taranaki entered production in 1970.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://gasindustry.co.nz/dmsdocument/5344 |title= The New Zealand Gas Story |publisher= Gas Industry Company |date= December 2016 |access-date= 13 February 2017 |archive-date= 2 February 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170202151245/http://gasindustry.co.nz/dmsdocument/5344 |url-status= dead }}</ref> The offshore [[Maui gas field|Maui A well]] began production of natural gas in the late 1970s, sparking a flourishing energy and [[petrochemical industry]]. As Maui A's resources decline, new sites in Taranaki are being developed in an effort to find more commercial petrochemical reserves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newplymouthnz.com/LivinginNewPlymouth/AboutNewPlymouth/|publisher=New Plymouth District Council|title=About New Plymouth}}</ref>

[[Powerco]] operates the local electricity and natural gas distribution networks in the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.powerco.co.nz/about-us/our-business/our-networks/ |title=Our Networks |publisher=Powerco |access-date=15 October 2018}}</ref> Electricity is supplied from [[Transpower New Zealand Limited|Transpower]]'s national grid at two substations: Carrington Street (Brooklands) and Huirangi. Natural gas is supplied from [[First Gas]]'s transmission system at a gate station in Bell Block.

Among the city's major industrial companies was Ivon Watkins-Dow, an agricultural chemicals company founded in 1944 by brothers Ivon, Harry and Dan Watkins and joined as a partner 20 years later by [[Dow Chemicals]] of [[Michigan]]. The company ran a factory at Paritutu making the herbicide [[2,4,5-T]]. A 2005 study found that people who lived close to the Ivon Watkins-Dow plant between 1962 and 1987 were likely to have [[Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins|dioxin]] levels on average four times higher than the general public. In some groups, the level was as much as seven times as high. A Public Health Medicine senior adviser has claimed that based on international findings, the residents' exposure to dioxin may cause increased rates of disease, in particular cancer. In March 2007, the [[Ministry of Health (New Zealand)|Ministry of Health]] announced it would offer a major health support programme to anyone affected.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/location/story.cfm?l_id=146&objectid=10431141|title=Health support for Taranaki residents exposed to dioxin|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |date=27 March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.investigatemagazine.com/poisoning_of_new_zealand%20OCT2000.htm|title=The Poisoning of New Zealand|publisher=[[Investigate magazine]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=16411|title=Search on for former Paritutu residents|first=Damien|last=O'Connor|date=3 April 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091004/http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=16411|archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref>
In April 2008, the Ministry clarified that the programme's main feature would be a free annual medical check up for those who had lived, worked or studied close to the factory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/dioxins-healthsupportprogramme#news|title=Health support service for people exposed to dioxin|publisher=Ministry of Health|date=29 April 2008}}</ref>