7. Question No. 7—Energy and ResourcesBARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country) to the Minister of Energy and ResourcesQuestion No. 7—Energy and Resources7. BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country) to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Will she apologise to Genesis Energy for her statement that Genesis made a commercial decision" when it came to how much generation to have online on Monday night and what are the terms of reference if any for the review she has instructed the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to undertake?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Energy and Resources): In answer to the first part of the question no. In answer to the second part of the question the terms of reference are currently being finalised along with an inquirer. It is my expectation that this inquiry will be under way as early as next week. The focus of the review will be on the matters that have been raised this week including communications with industry stakeholders and the public; escalation communications; whether Transpower's alert system is fit for purpose; and Transpower's modelling tool. The review will also focus on whether other generation could have been brought online scheduling and risk margins and whether there is adequate standby generation or other resources to reduce risk.Barbara Kuriger: Will the review consider time lines and if so has she discussed with David Clark Minister for State Owned Enterprises when he received the 7.10 p.m. grid emergency notice and why he did not give her a call to alert her?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I indicated when I listed out what the terms of reference would be that communications and escalation communications would certainly be part of the review. That is something that I want to look seriously at. As has been indicated on my behalf in this House yesterday I have had an apology from Transpower for the communications that occurred on Monday night.Barbara Kuriger: So in review of the time line when was the first time she was alerted to the fact that at 1.02 p.m. Transpower issued a warning that there were insufficient generation offers for the evening peak?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I have also indicated throughout the week I was alerted around 8.30 p.m. from a text from my press secretary. As soon as I received that text I gave Alison Andrew the CE of Transpower a call. She then gave me a briefing on all the alerts for the day.Barbara Kuriger: Does she expect her Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) review to agree with Dr Deborah Russell who said yesterday in the House in regards to 28000 houses being without power "stuff happens—stuff happens. … Staff go home in the evenings"?Hon Grant Robertson: That's not what she said.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: This is actually a serious—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume her seat. I've just had some interjections from the Deputy Prime Minister alleging that statements made were inaccurate as part of the question. If they were inaccurate and they were deliberately put in as part of supplementary questions that is not a matter he should be raising by way of interjection.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I said this is a serious review of a very serious occurrence that occurred on Monday night. As I have indicated to the member the time line of communications will be included in the review including escalation communications particularly when it occurs after nine. If the member is asking me if I expect members of my office will sit checking their emails every minute to see if an email has come in after hours the answer is no. I expect more of agencies in escalation communications. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Order! A former Minister of energy and a member who may or may not have interjected yesterday are being very loud. They will be quiet.Dr Deborah Russell: Point of order. I was misquoted. It was a selective quote.SPEAKER: No no. That is not a point of order. The member may seek leave to make a personal explanation in order to say "The member said this and I actually said that." And if she does that I will put it to the House but the member can't just argue by way of point of order.Dr Deborah Russell: I seek leave to make a personal explanation.SPEAKER: In relation to the matter that was raised?Dr Deborah Russell: In relation to the matter at hand.SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that? There appears to be none.Dr Deborah Russell: The member misquoted me. I did reference staff going home in the evenings but it's quite separate from the words "stuff happens—stuff happens". It was only a selective quote of different parts of the speech.SPEAKER: Well that's made it absolutely clear. [Interruption] Order! Order! I just say to members here that the fact that Dr Russell has done that has probably helped the member for Taranaki - King Country quite a lot.Barbara Kuriger: Will the MBIE review consider findings of the Transpower white paper she received in 2018 that stated New Zealand's exposure to supply shortages in winter and dry years is expected to double by 2030 and can she name one measure the Government is taking that will reduce the risk of winter blackouts this decade?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I answered the member in the answer to the primary question when she asked me what the terms of reference would be and I indicated whether there is adequate standby generation or other resources to reduce risk I think this indicates that that will be covered in the review that happens. But I do remind the member: it was not a lack of physical generation capacity that caused the blackout on Monday night. We know that there was between 500 and 600 megawatts of capacity that was not utilised and not brought in that was compounded by the fact that there were errors in the modelling tool from Transpower that led to more load being shed than was required.Barbara Kuriger: Will the MBIE review consider the Government's decision to not allow OMV to pursue promising initial drilling results at its Toutouwai-1 as its workers were not considered essential during COVID lockdowns and does she now consider gas exploration to be an essential service for the country?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: No the review will not cover that. During level 4 lockdown we allowed a number of industries that were critical to keep New Zealand going but also to keep New Zealanders safe from COVID to continue. I think that what we did in terms of the energy sector and what we did allow to be critical industries was in the best interests of New Zealand. But if the member is now wanting to relitigate what we did to keep New Zealanders safe and to keep COVID out I think she is conflating some very serious issues."