KEY POINTS:
A ministerial working party may be formed to tackle regulatory issues faced by the electricity industry, Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee says.
Speaking at the National Energy Conference in Auckland today, Mr Brownlee said ways needed to be found to speed up investment on electricity transmission assets.
He said a report he received from Business NZ contained good arguments for a redesign of the industry's regulatory arrangements.
"And a Ministerial Working Party may be the best way forward.
"I intend to engage officials and other interested parties in sorting out the duplication and complexity in the regulations and their implementation."
Recent power outages in Auckland were a reminder of the importance of progressing electricity infrastructure investment, as were figures showing a lack of new generation coming on-line, contributing to a declining security of supply.
Mr Brownlee talked about addressing sky-rocketing retail power prices and taking action if a current Commerce Commission investigation into alleged breaches of market power found shortcomings among the operations of electricity generators.
In what was his first major speech since picking up the portfolio last year, he also talked about unlocking the potential of New Zealand's energy resources, and said he saw gas as a big part of the country's future energy mix.
The Government was keen on getting new seismic data to stimulate further exploration for oil and gas and had freed up money for the purpose, he said.
Other topics touched on were the possibility of applying equal tax incentives for the production of sustainable bioethanol and biodiesel.
In the area of housing energy efficiency, Mr Brownlee said he had given the Ministry of Economic Development and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority the job of designing a plan to boost the number of home insulation retrofits in private homes.
The Emissions Trading Scheme was also raised as a concern for the electricity industry, but the scheme was being reviewed by a select committee and little was being said until that was complete.
Mr Brownlee said reform of the Resource Management Act (RMA), due to be complete by July, would be useful to the electricity industry in terms of cutting consent costs and processes presented by new projects.
- NZPA
