Ryan Bridge: Electricity Crisis - It feels like we're fumbling around in the dark

The power was cut to my place last night. 

Don't worry, it was expected. It was a maintenance thing from one in the morning or midnight through till 5 a.m. The heating was off, it was chilly. I think it was six degrees in Auckland last night, not as bad as your zero in Christchurch, granted. 

But boy, does it make you think how important electricity is. 

You don't know what you've got till it's gone, you wake up, you know, freezing, you've got a cold foot hanging out the bed, you're fumbling around in your undies, trying to find undies because it's dark. 

It's quite important to have electricity, and you don't know how good it is till it's gone. 

So too for major Kiwi industries who are feeling the cold, hard reality at the moment of life without energy, without gas. 

There are two stories in the last couple of days that caught my attention. 

One was Methanex, which produces Methanol. They've got 270 staff, $640 million is what they're worth to the Taranaki economy, and closer to a billion to the national economy. 8% of Taranaki's GDP, and they are reviewing operations in New Zealand. They're running at half capacity. 

Why? A lack of gas. 

Dwindling supply from existing gas fields. The spot market is shooting up, going through the roof, wholesale prices are up. You can't get a contract. The business is the equivalent of stumbling around in the dark at the moment. 

There's no certainty, they can't get affordable contracts, so business is suffering. 

The other story: the largest employer in Ruapehu district, 250 people employed at this pulp mill and sawmill, they've paused their operations. 

Why? Energy costs, up 600 percent since 2021. There's a 14 day pause going on there while they consider their future. This is not good. 

Some are talking about a manufacturing exodus; this is what we're seeing. It will hurt small town, New Zealand and these are good jobs, these are jobs that feed families. 

Is this a surprise? No. 

In 2018 MBIE rang the alarm bells about the government's oil and gas ban. Quite loudly, I might add. 

This is a briefing paper from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment given to then Energy Minister Megan Woods. 

It said Methanex would not be able to operate at full capacity from 2021 and would stop completely after 2026. Methanex will require a new discovery if it is to continue operating in New Zealand over the medium to long term. 

So, we had the warning, now it is happening, and the government promised a just transition at the time. 

Where is that? Show me the jobs to replace the potentially hundreds that are on the line right now. 

Feels a little bit like we're fumbling around in the dark. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The power was cut to my place last night. Don't worry.
It was expected. It was a maintenance thing. From one
in the morning or midnight through till five am. The
heating was off. It was chilly. I think it was
six degrees in Auckland last night. Not as bad as
you zero in christ Church, granted, but boy does it
make you think how important electricity is. You don't know

(00:22):
what you've got till it's gone. You wake up, you know, freezing,
you've got fripples, you've got a cold foot hanging out
the bed, you're fumbling around in your undies trying trying
to find undies because it's dark. You know, it's quite
important to have electricity, right, and you don't know how
good it is till it's gone. So too for major

(00:44):
key industries who are feeling the cold, hard reality at
the moment of life without energy, without gas. There are
two stories in the last couple of days that caught
my attention. One was methin X, which produces methanol. They've
got two hundred and seventy staff. Six hundred and forty
million dollars is what they're worth to the Taranaki economy.
More close to a billion to the national economy, eight

(01:07):
percent of Tartanaki's GDP. And they are reviewing operations in
New Zealand. They're running at half capacity. Why a lack
of gas, dwindling supply from existing gas fields. The spot
market is shooting up going through the roof. Wholesale prices
are up. You can't get a contract. The business is

(01:28):
the equivalent of stumbling around in the dark. At the moment,
there's no certainty. They can't get affordable contracts, so business
is suffering. The other story, the largest employer in Rupaehu
District two hundred and fifty people employed at this poulp
mill and sawmill. They've paused their operations. Why Energy costs

(01:49):
up six hundred percent since twenty twenty one. There's a
fourteen day pause going on there while they consider their future.
This is not good. Some are talking about a manufacturing exodus.
This is what we're seeing. It will hurt small town
New Zealand. And these are good jobs. Therese are jobs
that feed families. Is this a surprise? No. Twenty eighteen

(02:15):
MB rang the alarm bells about the government's oil and
gas ban quite loudly, I might add, and I'll just
read you a little bit from what was written at
the time in twenty eighteen. This is a briefing paper
from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment given to
then Energy Minister Megan Woods. It said METHODEX would not

(02:36):
be able to operate at full capacity from twenty twenty
one and would stop completely after twenty twenty six. Method
X will require a new discovery if it is to
continue operating in New Zealand over the medium to long term.
So we had the warning. Now it is happening, and

(02:57):
the government promised a just transition at the time. Where
is that? Show me the jobs to replace the potentially
hundreds that are on the line right now feels a
little bit like we're fumbling around in the dark. For
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