4. JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) Link to this
to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises
Does he have confidence in the board of Genesis Energy?
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
How can the Minister have confidence in the board of Genesis Energy, when it told the Rodney District Council that it had “sufficient gas arrangements” to operate the proposed Rodney power station, but told the Electricity Commission that it does not have “access to a sufficient, secure forward quantity of gas” for it?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I am advised that the board of Genesis Energy has given the go-ahead for a consent to be sought, but has not made any decisions about the building of that plant.
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
What advice, if any, has the Minister received from the chair of the board about the company’s Gasbridge project in New Plymouth to import liquefied natural gas to fuel its power stations, which, under international contracts, would tie the price of electricity to the international price of oil?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I am unable to answer that. I do know that New Zealand is a very prospective country. There are lots of opportunities for new gas finds, and this Government is encouraging people to go out and make those finds.
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
How can the Minister, then, have confidence in the board of Genesis Energy, when it proposes to build the Rodney gas-fired power plant and the Gasbridge liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, which, together, will tie power prices for Kiwi households and businesses to the rising international price of oil, under the contracts that govern LNG trade?
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
Has the chair of the board advised the Minister that Genesis Energy so far has spent $74 million of electricity consumers’ dollars just on planning for the power station, but that it probably will not be built, given its statement to the Electricity Commission that it should not consider the power station as “committed or likely in a real world commercial sense”; and does he think that that is prudent spending?
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE Link to this
I am unable to answer that question, because I do not know what conversations the Minister has had with the chair of Genesis Energy. But I do know that if it were not for Genesis Energy, the lights would have gone out in this country last year. It was Genesis Energy’s e3p gas plant at Huntly that kept the lights on.
Jeanette Fitzsimons Link to this
Is the Minister saying that any future waste of electricity consumers’ money by that company is completely OK because it has a power plant that it built previously—underwritten by the Government on its gas contract—and that that entitles the company to do anything?