Crisis? What crisis?
Crisis? What crisis?
That was the message from Energy Minister David Parker today when he fronted a press conference on the Government's response to the worst dry year to hit our southern hydro lakes since 1992.
The Prime Minister had wisely headed south to Dunedin and left Parker to answer the media's questions on his own. Helen Clark really doesn't like getting caught being asked about why we seem to lurch from power crisis to power crisis in this country - not in election year, that's for sure.
So the strategy seems to be to swear black and blue that there isn't one. Therefore Parker today announced that the Government, having seriously considered the situation in Cabinet this morning, would do .... nothing. For now. Because it will rain. Soon. Honestly. It will.
And so we were treated to the spectacle in the Beehive Theatrette of Parker holding a press conference to announce that the Government endorses a decision by the power industry, tired of waiting for the Government to do anything itself, to mount a television advertising campaign asking people to save power.
The reason the Government isn't organising and running the campaign itself? "Industry offered to pay for it,'' Parker said. I kid you not.
According to Parker we are not in a crisis situation. "It's not a crisis, it's just another step along the way when you have a dry winter,'' he said.
As for the savings campaign, "We're not calling for people to turn off their towel rails, we would like them to think about leaving them on overnight,'' said Parker.
Okay then. There is no depression in New Zealand. Although Parker's what, me worry? strategy might have worked better at the press conference had Dr Patrick Strange of Transpower not been standing next to him. Asked whether industry was concerned about the situation, Strange said:
"We as an industry are very concerned. We are risk averse, so things concern us....it is serious when we call on New Zealanders to be prudent with their [power] use. For the electricity industry, we call that serious.''
Okay then, so the Government says there's nothing to worry about and the head of the company that transports electricity around the country says that there is. Hmmmmm. Who to believe? Hang on, isn't there an election at the end of the year?
The best part was near the end of the press conference when Parker rounded on the media for supposedly beating up the story of a crisis, adding that no one could really expect to have a hydro-based power system AND keep the lights burning and industry making things.
"I think there is an understanding on the part of the public that you can't have a hydro-based electricity system and still have enough electricity for everything to run really flat tack in a really dry year,'' he said.
The thing that disturbs me about this comment is that we're less reliant on hydro power than we used to be. Fast forward ten years. I can almost hear whoever is Energy Minister saying: "You can't have a wind-based electricity system and still have enough electricity to run everything flat tack in a really calm year.''
Yup. That's why the rest of the developed world still burns coal and oil, or has nuclear power. You can't rely on a network dependent on rain and wind - even in Wellington. Was it really only a few months ago that the Government was promising to make New Zealand 95 per cent dependent on renewable energy? Now Huntly's running full tilt and we're cheering on Mighty River Power to get its new gas-fired plant up and running as soon as possible.
Renewable energy's fantastic until someone threatens to pull the plug.
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I would call it mis-management and lack of investment. The govt has raked off billions of dollars from their electricity providers (yes most are govt owned), put the money into the consolidated fund to buy votes instead of electricity infrastructure.
Meanwhile our bills have gone up 48% and assurance of supply down to 4 major 1 in 60 year events in the last 9 years. They can not blame the previous govt as they have been in long enough to build sufficent power stations to meet demand.
Thankfully though they have created the Electricity Commission, which has cost us 130million and will guarantee supply. Yep looks like it's worked, a new beauracracy which took the lines company to court to stop investment in what they had decided was the wrong decision. Then when us tax payer had paid for a govt company to go to court against another govt quango had the decision overturned in the retrial, sacked the boss (gave him a golden nest egg) and now the price of the original infrastructure improvement is up 50 million or so in cost. Yahoo another loose, loose for the tax payer.
The power companies make all their money on the spot market, so there is no desire to have sufficent supply or a surplus in case of such events. This was the main cause of California's power crisis a number of years ago, but they were exporting supply to make the crisis to push up the prices for profit. Thank goodness we didn't learn from this or we could of avoided where we see ourselves again.
Thankgoodness though for the leadership of the Govt in this matter, soon all manafacturing will be overseas and all those people unemployed so they can not afford electricity anyway. So demand will be down and the Govt need do nothing, yep another loose, loose.
Will be in the third world soon.
Well, if the most I have to do is worry, or not, about my heated towel rail I guess I can relax knowing there's oodles of power for the winter.
This could get Labour re-elected, giving us such peace of mind just when we were starting to get worried.
Or should we stop sneering and actually listen for a minute to Roger Douglas? And have a serious discussion about a smart nuclear power station for our major population cluster, from Hamilton north?
It's a pity the Greens never bothered to give us a positive vision for the future apart from mung beans, hemp bags and earth closets. And that our wonderful precious sustainable hydro resources have been so belittled.
Colin, I hope for your sake (and no one else's) the lights do go off this winter. Otherwise this post will be exhibit one for how your flagrant antipathy for this government got in the way of sophisticated political analysis.
Can you imagine the delicious scenario of blackouts a few days before/during the election....but of course it's all Max Bradfords fault, no wait it's Ruth Richardson...Noooo Nooo it's Rogernomics, yes we are still looking like a 3rd world country facing blackouts because of the National policies of the 80's and 90's, yes....that's good, we'll go with that!
Agree with that left leaning bloggers?, can/will you blame the 80's and 90's as the reason for possible blackouts this winter, even if we don't have any, to even be in this sorry position of 'switching off' so we DON'T have blackouts, who from National past/present can you blame for this?
Remember Max Bradford? Father of the National government's electricity reforms of 1999 that broke up the old ECNZ and set up a competitive model. His website says the reforms would deliver "choice" and "lower electricity prices". He said in a think piece in 2002 that his brainchild is "infinitely better than the old system when bureaucrats, or politicians, invariably made the wrong decisions." And now we are treated to the spectacle of Gerry Brownlee crying wolf and decrying under-investment, blaming poor David Parker of course. So who is correct, Gerry or Max? Do the investment decisions under the National party model rest with the Board or with the Minister? And are such commercial decisions beyond political interference under the National party model? My money is on Max.
Part of the blame has also to be laid at the feet of the previous National Government. In 1998 the Nats were told that deregulation of the electricity industry wouldn't work. Max Bradford said there would be cheaper electricity power. That has to be New Zealand's biggest ever political joke, along with Ruth Richardson's appallingly titled "mother of all budgets."
Colin: just for completeness, Mighty River's new plant in Kawerau, is not gas fired, it is a Geothermal plant.
http://www.mightyriverpower.co.nz/Generation/Projects/Kawerau/KawerauProjectOverview/
Why is NZ exporting its substantial coal resource to Asian countries (no value added) for them to burn as fuel when it could be used to generate electricity here?
Ahhhh thank you lefties, you have proven my point (Jennifer/Kiwibloke...more leftie 'nationals fault' posts to come no doubt from the red brigade!)....AGAIN it's Nationals fault, do you guys NEVER put your hand up and admit Labout/HC could have done better, should have done better?
Of course not, best to blame someone 10yrs ago than admit that all the surpluses over the last 7-8yrs could have already built a new/upgraded an existing power plant rather than make benificieries of almost half the voting population....tsk tsk tsk
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Unbelievable. And Parker was touted as one of Labour's bright new lights.