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Speaker 1: So the government's announced it's going ahead with building an

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Speaker 1: LNG import facility. It'll cost north of a billion dollars

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Speaker 1: and hopefully be set up in Taranaki by next year

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Speaker 1: or early twenty twenty eight. Simon, what's is the Energy Minister?

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Speaker 1: High Simon, very good afternoon, Heather, right, sell this idea

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Speaker 1: to me.

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Speaker 2: Well, Heather, we had a major price shock in the

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Speaker 2: energy market in twenty four that's because we didn't have

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Speaker 2: enough gas in New Zealand. We've got dilated supplies here domestically,

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Speaker 2: so we need the ability to import it. That's what

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Speaker 2: we're looking to build, and Cabinet's given me the definitive

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Speaker 2: decision to get on and contract to get an importation

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Speaker 2: facility built. That'll take the risk and put certainty back

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Speaker 2: in to make sure we do have gas in a

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Speaker 2: dry year and with that that provides benefits to the

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Speaker 2: broader country and also underpins economic growth.

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Speaker 1: Okay, how much are you going to levy each household

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Speaker 1: to pay for this thing?

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Speaker 2: So the levy rate is going to be in the

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Speaker 2: region of two to four dollars per mega What hour

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Speaker 2: in regards to household impacts of that, have you taken

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Speaker 2: to account the costs and benefits, which is based on

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Speaker 2: the advice that I've given, It's equivalent to roughly fifty

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Speaker 2: dollars per household. The reality is is that some of

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Speaker 2: that benefit would be flowing to business, commercial and industrial

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Speaker 2: users as well as households both.

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Speaker 1: It's going to have an average looking it, so it's

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Speaker 1: going to cost fifty dollars per year.

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Speaker 2: No net benefit our first godness save benefit total, yes,

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Speaker 2: total benefit at an economy level of two hundred and

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Speaker 2: sixty five million dollars.

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Speaker 1: Per So I just want to understand this. So is

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Speaker 1: this basically the saving that we would make from using

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Speaker 1: the ALNG, and then minus the levy we're paying, we're

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Speaker 1: left with a net benefit of fifty bucks a year.

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Speaker 2: It is the savings that officials have indicated we will

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Speaker 2: see in terms of a reduction of electricity prices in

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Speaker 2: New Zealand, less the levee that we will charge to

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Speaker 2: in effect build and operate this importation facility.

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Speaker 1: Okay, tell me if my figures are correct. I've read

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Speaker 1: that the cost of along ALERNG sells it around twenty

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Speaker 1: to twenty one dollars per gividule, whereas natural gas in

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Speaker 1: this country is currently selling at eight to ten dollars

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Speaker 1: per gigadile. Is that correct?

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Speaker 2: That's in the broad range, but there is a significant.

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Speaker 1: Well, how are you going to spard the global mark?

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Speaker 1: How do we smooth out price shocks by bringing something

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Speaker 1: into the country that's more expensive than what we're paying

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Speaker 1: for in the country.

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Speaker 2: Well, under the status quo, our problem is we do

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Speaker 2: not have the fuel to be able to make electricity.

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Speaker 2: We do not have the fuel.

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Speaker 1: Will the methdics, But will methinics closing at the end

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Speaker 1: of the year, as is rumored, not free up a

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Speaker 1: whole bunch of gas coming out of MA, we thereby

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Speaker 1: making the still plan redundant.

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Speaker 2: No, that's not correct. Any predicated closure of methodics would

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Speaker 2: be based on the fact that there is not sufficient

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Speaker 2: gas for it to operate.

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Speaker 1: So add an industrial at an industry So I'm an

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Speaker 1: at an industrial level, we don't. We're just residential users.

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Speaker 1: We just use a little bit and what's remaining can

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Speaker 1: go to commercial users.

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Speaker 2: What New Zealand needs is certainty of the ability to

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Speaker 2: obtain gas into the decades ahead, and that's what an

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Speaker 2: importation facility will do. Certainty over multi decades. That's what

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Speaker 2: we need. We need stability and knowing that we can

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Speaker 2: get that fuel should we have it in a dry year,

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Speaker 2: we've got an insurance policy and effect and under the

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Speaker 2: Status quad, if you think about what we've got today,

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Speaker 2: we do not have that. And this is going to

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Speaker 2: be in play by winter twenty seven early twenty eight.

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Speaker 2: That's pretty fast in terms of getting stuff done in

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Speaker 2: this country. But you know the certainty that that will

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Speaker 2: give based on the official advices. You know the benefits

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Speaker 2: exceed the costs, so that's important for energy security.

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Speaker 1: You do accept though that what you're doing is more

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Speaker 1: expensive than what we're paying already a one country.

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Speaker 2: What I accept is is at the moment, I don't

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Speaker 2: have any ability to get fuel domestically to cover a

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Speaker 2: dry year, and that's why we need the ability to import.

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Speaker 2: This is going to give more certainty, more fuel, more

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Speaker 2: electricity security, and therefore that'll have downward pressure on overarching

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Speaker 2: price and that's good for business, it's good for households.

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Speaker 1: For more from Heather duplessy Ellen Drive, listen live to

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