Jeanette Fizsimmons: Rodney gas-fired white elephant

Jeanette Fitzsimons: Is the Minister concerned that the $74 million that Genesis has spent on planning for the Rodney gas-fired power station"”which even it admits will probably never be built"”actually represents more than 2.5c a kilowatt-hour for all the electricity it sells, which is four times its recent price increase; and when will he tell it to stop putting up power prices in order to pay for a white elephant? Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The decisions around the Genesis proposals are operational matters and are not for any Minister to make, but what I would say is that the decision to even consider that project indicates why we desperately need to look at a review of governance arrangements inside the marketing of electricity in this country. Jo Goodhew: What else is the Government doing to improve the delivery of electricity to consumers? Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The Government has published a new Draft Government Policy Statement on Electricity Governance, which proposes streamlined and simplified processes for transmission investments of under $20 million. The current processes can involve lengthy duplication and engineering and systems planning. The consultation on the policy statement has now finished. The Government will shortly be announcing the new Government policy statement. Charles Chauvel: Which of the following measures taken already by his Government will contribute most effectively to the energy goals outlined by the primary questioner: throwing climate change policy into confusion by setting up a select committee on whether to retain the emissions trading scheme when that scheme is already in force, getting rid of the biofuels obligation, legislating in a way that leads directly to consent being given to a gas-fired power station that has no forward contract for gas supplies, having a Prime Minister who continues to leave open the science on climate change, calling in State-owned enterprise chairs to the Beehive to demand higher dividends, or referring to a project to paint power pylons as a major upgrade to the national grid? Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: I do not know how that member can believe that anyone could separate out any one thing that needs to be done to sort out the enormous mess that the Labour Government left behind. What consumers know is that a 72 percent price rise for electricity for residential consumers, as against a 29 percent CPI increase over the same period, is an utter disgrace. That member should not be asking any questions; he should simply be listening and learning.