Dialogue: It's about time we all blew our fuses

By GARTH GEORGE

Why aren't we all angry? Why isn't everyone jumping up and down and letting it be known that in the year 2001 in a developed country if there is a shortage of electricity it is simply unacceptable and those who were and are responsible should be called to account.

Not that I believe for a moment that there is a power crisis, any more than I believed a few years ago that Auckland had a water crisis. In fact, as that alleged crisis began, I had a wager with a colleague that the dams would be 95 per cent full by Labour Weekend. He won the bet - but only because the dams were 94 per cent full on Labour Day.

And just as back then I made no attempt to save water, I am making no effort to save power right now because in 2001 in a developed country I should be able to use all the electricity I want to and can pay for.

Sure, I stoke up the wetback-equipped woodburner every night, but not because I want to save power to the water heater but because I want to be warm and a woodburner is to an electric heater what a 200-watt bulb is to a candle.

Just as the so-called water crisis had little to do with any lack of rain, today's alleged power crisis has little to do with low lake levels in the South Island.

In both cases the alleged crises resulted from bad political and management decisions which in the case of our electricity generation capacity, both hydro and thermal, go back for at least the past 15 years, culminating in Max Bradford's mad rush of blood to the head in the dying days of the National Government.

There are a number of odious similarities between the water "crisis" and today's power "crisis", and the one that makes me cringe the most is the return of that amazingly mean-spirited enthusiasm of people to dob others in. During the water crisis neighbour potted neighbour for things like washing their cars, watering the garden or adding a few hundred litres to the swimming pool.

Last week, no sooner had Energy Minister Pete Hodgson (and how he must be revelling in the publicity stunts this manufactured situation has made available to him) announced the possibility of power shortages than letters to the editor began to complain about the Sky Tower being lit up, advertising signs glowing, public buildings with lights on at night and, meanest of all, schoolchildren playing their sport under lights.

As a European-born colleague observed to me the other day: "I always wondered how the Stasi in East Germany managed such a huge network of informers. Now I know."

The second thing that saddens me is the readiness with which so many of us are prepared to don what seem to be our ever-handy hair shirts and kowtow to the blandishments of politicians and power companies to all bath in one teaspoonful of washing-up water and all huddle together under one blanket and listen to a battery-powered radio in the unheated dark.

It's as if many of us actually think life is too comfortable and it's much better for the soul to be spartan.

But I rather think it's our national naivety, which seems to make us believe what politicians and utility companies tell us, and some sort of deep childish need to impress other people by being seen to be "doing our bit", which is just another manifestation of that scurrilous philosophy of political correctness.

The third thing that makes me despair for this nation is the failure of people to be extraordinarily angry at any suggestion of electricity shortages. Instead of biting the bullet, tugging our forelocks and mouthing "Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir", we should be ashamed that we accept the idea that a modern society doesn't have enough electric power.

Do we really like the idea of being like a Third World country that can't afford to light up buildings such as the Sky Tower, run the dishwasher and use the clothes-drier when it's raining?

Next thing we'll be telling our incoming tourists that they can't have a bath, must restrict themselves to two-minute showers and, so sorry, but the heated towel rail has been turned off.

Instead of grandstanding by encouraging people to save power and jawing with power company supremos about how to avert or simply minimise the so-called crisis, Mr Hodgson should be doing his damndest to discover how this happened, why we have insufficient generating capacity and what needs to be done right now to make sure it never happens again.

Never mind dumb ideas such as putting daylight saving forward or turning off television at 10.30 or midnight (which saves nothing because there's no demand then). Just order up a few brochures on the latest in nuclear power plants.

* garthgeorge@nzherald.co.nz