Energy minister seeks intervention power if gas runs short

Mon, 17 Feb 2020

The government is investigating whether it should give the Minister of Energy power to "reallocate electricity or gas in situations of acute electricity or gas shortage."The move has alarmed the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand, which suggests it would be ironic if the government's 2018 ban on offshore oil and gas exploration were to cause ministers then to intervene and claim there had been "market failure" because of a shortage of natural gas supplies.The proposal is buried deep in a paper taken to the Cabinet b...

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