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Transpower says it will take 10 days to two weeks to make changes which might help hold down power prices.
Wholesale prices are about five times higher than at this time last year, and one electricity retailer, On Energy, is considering raising residential prices.
Transpower will now install sensor and switching equipment to reverse the normal flow of power, which is from the South to the North Island.
Transpower's general manager of sales and marketing, Bill Heaps, says that reconfiguring the grid should help ease pressure on power prices.
Heaps says it is the power generators who determine the wholesale power price, not Transpower, which is responsible for running the national grid.
David Russell from the Consumers Institute says he will be watching Transpower's efforts with interest to see what impact it does have on wholesale power prices.
He says what is needed is rain, to put more water into the hydro lakes, allowing them to generate more power, which would bring down the price.
The Electricity Consumers Coalition also says it will be closely watching Transpower's efforts.
Minister of Energy Pete Hodgson says the move should help lower wholesale power prices.
A spokesperson for Transpower, Wayne Eagleson, is defending the fact the company has not acted sooner, but won't comment on whether wholesale electricity prices will drop as a result.
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