NO COLD SHOWERS BY CANDLELIGHT!!

The claims that New Zealand will face electricity shortages within five years are absolute nonsense and ill-informed, Minister of Energy Doug Kidd said today.

How can people seriously say new power stations wont be built in time in a competitive market when the evidence before their eyes right now is precisely the opposite? said Mr Kidd.

We have at least 760 megawatts of new capacity, which is enough to take care of at least five years demand growth, underway right now. These new projects are highly efficient and diversified stations with a good mix of fuel sources, including wind, geothermal and gas. Upgrades to existing hydro plant are adding to capacity year by year.

What many people dont realise is that power stations can now be built relatively quickly by private investors. Gone are the days of massive, centrally-planned hydro developments taking years or even decades to build. The latest power station I opened was the Wairarapa wind farm which was built by Wairarapa Electricity in just a few months. Private investors are in a position to respond far more quickly to avert possible power shortages and there is no need to invest public money in power stations now that may not be needed until well into the next millennium, said Mr Kidd.

Mr Kidd said that the possible depletion of the Maui gas field was an issue that Government and the electricity sector were well aware of and had plenty of time to plan for. Exploration for oil and gas is underway right now. In any case, New Zealand has abundant alternative resources to fuel electricity generation including wind, geothermal, biofuels, hydro and coal.

New Zealanders should not be concerned by the sensationalist nonsense about possible power shortages. There is no need to fear that we will all have to take cold showers by candlelight in the next five years. There is no more likely to be a lack of electricity as there is likely to be a lack of milk in the supermarket or framing timber at the hardware store, he said.