Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Here's what's so disappointing about the energy announcement

If you were looking forward to today to learn how the Government would rescue the country from the energy crisis we face, you are already disappointed by now because you've looked at it and you've seen there's nothing here.

There is nothing here that is going to stop us going through what we are going through right now. For months and months every winter for the last two winters we've seen the closing down of mills, extremely high power bills, and a shortage of gas - and all of that's going to continue.

The disappointing thing is that we have waited two whole winters for this package of ideas, and yet the best idea seems, to me, to be a kooky idea, which is that the Government may be backing the construction of an LNG import terminal.

That was an idea that sounded great last winter, but in the months since, when we've actually had a look at the thing and had some reports done and it has been debunked for being quite expensive for not a lot of gain.

To set up one of these terminals, most likely at the port of Taranaki, it would cost somewhere between $200 million and $1 billion dollars, which is not money that we have.

The gas that we would then import from offshore to basically make up for the shortage of gas that we have in the country at the moment would be very expensive.

Have a look at what you're paying for your gas right now - and add 25 percent to that.

The second best idea in this seems to be the Government throwing taxpayer money at the partially owned gentailers in order that they can raise capital to build more generation. Which is not capital that they appear to be asking for.

They do not seem to have a shortage of money, as evidenced by the fact that they keep paying out massive dividends.

The upshot for all of this - as in how much we're going to save - Simon Watts reckons he might be able to drop power prices by two percent a year. Two percent.

Now, I'll tell you the problem with this plan is that it appears - and from what I hear - they haven't spent much time understanding the problem and thus understanding what it would take to fix it properly.

So what they've done is, in haste, cobbled together a series of what sounds like maybe decent announcements if you're half listening. But they're really things that will not do that much.

Unfortunately for them, we have an energy crisis, and it is massive. It is probably the biggest thing that is facing business in this country right now.  A crisis of this size demands a proper fix.

This is becoming a theme for this Government - having lots of really big things to deal with, and they're not really dealing with them properly.

This is not really a fix.

So unfortunately, and I'm so sorry to say this, strap yourself in because it looks like for next winter and the winters to come, the deindustrialization of New Zealand will continue.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you were looking forward to today to learn how
the government would rescue the country from the energy crisis
we face, you are already disappointed by now because you've
looked at it and you've seen there's nothing here. There
is nothing here that is going to stop us going
through what we are going through right now, which is
for months and months every winter for the last two winters,
the closing down of mills, extremely high power bills, running

(00:24):
out of gas. All of that's going to continued. The
disappointing thing is that we have waited two whole winters
for this package of ideas, and yet the best idea
seems to me to be a kooky idea, which is
the government maybe backing the construction of an alerng import terminal,
which was an idea that sounded great last winter, but
in the months since, when we've actually had a look
at the thing and had some reports done, it has

(00:44):
been debunked for being quite expensive for not a lot
of gain. It would cost somewhere to set up one
of these terminals, most likely at the port of Tartanaki.
It would cost somewhere between two hundred million dollars and
a billion dollars, which is not money that we have.
The gas that we would then import from offshore to
basically make up for the shortage of gas that we
have in the country at the moment would be expensive.

(01:06):
It would be very expensive gas. Have a look at
what you're paying for your gas right now, add twenty
five percent to that. The second best idea in this
seems to be the government throwing tax payer money at
the partially owned gent tailors in order that they can
raise capital to build more generation, which is not capital
that they appear to be asking for. They do not
seem to have a shortage of money, as evidenced by
the fact that they keep paying out massive dividends. The

(01:28):
upshot for all of this as in, how much are
we going to save? Simon wats reckons he might be
able to drop power prices by two percent a year.
Two percent. Now, I'll tell you the problem with this
plan is that it appears and from what I hear,
they haven't spent much time understanding the problem and thus
understanding what it would take to fix it properly. So

(01:51):
what they've done is in haste, cobbled together a series
of what sound like maybe decent announcements. If you're half listening,
but raally things that will not do that much. Unfortunately
for them. We have an energy crisis and it is massive.
It is probably the biggest thing that is facing business
in this country right now. A crisis of the size
demands a proper fix. This is becoming a theme for

(02:13):
this government, having lots of really big things to deal
with and they're not really dealing with them properly. This
is not really a fix. So, unfortunately, and I'm so
sorry to say this, strap yourself in because it looks
like for next winter, in the winters to come, the
de industrialization of New Zealand will continue. For more from
Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks. It'd

(02:35):
be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.