Sowry Roger: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Question No. 3 to Minister 
Sowry Roger: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Question No. 3 to Minister 
[Volume:617;Page:13317] 
9.  
Hon ROGER SOWRY (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: When was he first informed of the issue of capacity restraints on the national grid in the upper South Island? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Energy) 
: 
Transpower’s 2001-02 system security forecast identified seven separate groups of constraints throughout the national grid including the upper South Island. Since then I have had many reports of upgrades or of upgrades planned. About 2 weeks ago Transpower raised with me the issue of the upper South Island specifically but its view at that stage was that the new rules might be the problem. Over the weekend an official rang me to say that the rules were not the problem and that the issue was somewhat more serious than that. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Why did the Minister say on National Radio this morning that he first heard about this yesterday when in fact he heard about it clearly as a result of the 2001-02 system security forecast; and why has he not taken any action since then? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I said that the 2001-02 system security forecast identified seven separate groups of constraints. It actually adds up to dozens and dozens and Transpower regularly updates the Minister and its owners about what it is doing about those particular constraints. There is a good deal that goes on. In terms of the particular constraint that might have caused this problem a fix was put in place several months ago that as far as I am aware has not worked. 
David Parker 
: How has the Electricity Commission responded to the situation? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The commission is doing an excellent job of coordinating the industry response to minimise the risk of disruption. The chairman Roy Hemmingway has said: “We think there are management options that we can put together and get in place before this becomes a problem that will ensure we don’t have to resort to involuntary load shedding.” I have had much positive feedback from the industry on the commission’s handling of the issue. The only people who have not yet realised how valuable it is are the members of the National Party who just last week called for the commission’s abolition. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Does the Minister approve of State-owned enterprises using dramatic scare tactics to generate public support for their “think big” projects or will he ensure that there is a proper study of the most cost-effective way to overcome the constraint including the wider application of the highly successful load management practices of Orion Networks that have avoided millions of dollars of unnecessary investment on just that same line for some years? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: No I would not approve of any crisis creation nor am I accusing Transpower of it. I would say to the member that the way forward for transmission investment is the integrated resource management that she refers to. That is precisely what is in the rule book now. It is Part C of the rule book and it came into force on 1 March of this year. 
Gordon Copeland 
: What impact does the Minister think these kinds of capacity restraint problems will have on decisions by business people as to where they should invest their money or indeed where they might locate their businesses? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I think the reputational risk is a problem. My hope is we will get some clarity within a week or so as to whether we will be able to avoid any blackouts in the upper South Island. It is certainly my hope that that will be the case. For the future Transpower is investing heavily in the network after a decade of neglect during the 1990s. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Does the Minister remember responding when the previous National Party energy spokesperson Mr Gerry Brownlee raised Transpower’s warning in October 2002 regarding problems in the upper South Island that National was scaremongering making blatantly untruthful claims making grossly misleading claims making demonstrably false claims and showing “an appalling readiness to mislead”; and will he now stop his hysterics and theatrics and do something about fixing the problem? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I can do no better than to quote Transpower’s response to that member at that time. Transpower said: “We have absolutely no concerns regarding the transmission system in the upper South Island.” It went on to say it would need to continue further investment. It has been continuing further investment—the most recent of which did not work. 
Hon Roger Sowry 
: Will the Minister now be offering his resignation as Minister of Energy for failing to take on board Transpower’s warnings in 2002 that this constraint was likely to be a problem unless it was dealt with by the Government—a warning backed up by Dr Ralph Craven in a presentation that he gave to a national conference in Auckland in March of this year yet the Minister still claims as on National Radio this morning that he heard of the problem yesterday? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: I heard of the problem over the weekend as I told the House earlier in the question. Indeed most of the industry heard of it on Friday afternoon. If the member wants to know what transmission constraints look like they are described in detail in this book. The member clearly has not read the book—he should do so.