Mike's Minute: Some good energy news for winter, for once

Christmas came early for Tiwai Aluminium Smelter. 

They get to do business. In fact, they get to do business in a country where you would have thought doing business is to be encouraged. 

They have been prevented from doing all the business they can because they have a deal with their power company, Meridian, whereby they have to contain themselves if things are a bit tight in the old power department. 

It is indeed a weird, old world where we revel in ideas like AI and crypto and data centres, and yet we don’t have the slightest idea where the power to make it all work is coming from. 

Big tech is under pressure globally. It is claimed they have data centres running and using things like water in areas of the planet where water is scarce. 

New Zealand wants to be a data centre hub, and yet we can't allow an aluminium plant to run to its capacity because it didn’t rain enough. 

The good news is it has rained a bit lately so the southern lakes look solid, which means, they think, we might not be as pinched as we have been in other winters. 

The idea that you aspire to run a power grid that is reliant on things you have no control over is a very modern version of insanity. 

We need it to rain, we need it to blow, and we need the sun to shine. We have no control over any of these things so we convince ourselves we aren't idiots by thinking we will build options. 

So if the sun isn't out, the wind will be. Or if it doesn’t blow, at least it will rain. 

But when it doesn’t do any of those things, which it hasn’t, we need Tiwai and your average punter to take it easy on the cold mornings. 

And that's with, right here, right now, hardly any AI, crypto not really being a thing here, and data centres at a minimum. Imagine how stuck we would be if we had actually got any of these things up and running? 

Gas would help. But Labour stopped all that and our re-opening of the market is only just beginning. We really do look very 1987. 

In the meantime, the coal comes in from Indonesia, defeating the entire purpose of the climate exercise of renewables. 

Cart before horse, anyone? 

They say it will all work out, eventually. We will have so much renewable capacity, and we will have all bases covered, apparently. Do you believe that? 

Do you believe a country that makes its biggest power user limit its capacity every time winter comes around, really is a country that deals successfully in big picture thinking? 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now Christmas came early for Teaway as in the aluminium
smelter yesterday. They get to do business. They get to
do business in a country where you would have thought
of doing business would be encouraged. Anyway. They've been prevented
from doing all the business they can because they have
a deal, of course with their power company, Meridian, whereby
they have to contain themselves if things are a bit
tight in the old power department. It is indeed a

(00:21):
weird old world where we revel in ideas like AI
and crypto and data centers, and yet we don't have
the slightest idea where the power to make all this
is coming from Big tech is under pressure globally as well.
It's claim they've got data centers running and using things
like water in areas of the planet where water is scarce.
New Zealand wants to be a data center hub and
yet can't allow an aluminium plant to run to its

(00:42):
capacity because it didn't rain enough. Good news is it
has rained a bit lately, so the southern lakes look solid,
which means they think we might not be as pinched
as we have been in other winters. The idea that
you aspire to run a power grid that is reliant
on things you have no control over is a very
modern version. I would have thought of insanity. We need
it to rain, we need it to blow, we need

(01:02):
the sun to shine. We have no control over any
of those things. So we convince ourselves we aren't idiots
by thinking we will build options. So if the sun
isn't out, the wind will blow, or if it doesn't blow,
at least it will rain. But when it doesn't do
any of those things, which it hasn't, we need t
y and your average punter to take it easy on
the cold mornings. And that is with right here, right now.

(01:23):
Hardly any AI or crypto or data centers imagine how
stuck we would be if we actually had got any
of those things up and running. Gas would help, of course,
but labour stopped all that. In our reopening of the
market is only just beginning. We really do look very
nineteen eighty seven. Meantime, the coal comes in from Indonesia,
defeating the entire purpose of the climb and exercise of

(01:44):
renewables cart before horse anyone. They say it will all
work out. Eventually, we will have so much renewable capacity,
we'll have all the bases covered. Do you believe that?
Do you believe a country that makes its biggest power
user limits its capacity every time intercomes really is a
country that deals successfully in big picture thinking. For more

(02:04):
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