Media Release
Tuesday 31 March 2009
For immediate use

Government & Commissioners Dodge Responsibility for SOE

The Kaukapakapa Area Residents & Ratepayers Association (KARRA) is appalled by a decision that paves the way for a gas-fired baseload power station to be built in their small, rural community.

In the decision released by Rodney District Council last Friday, independent hearing commissioners contend that it's not their role to examine whether Genesis Energy has enough gas to run the proposed Rodney Power Station, or whether the project is even economically viable.

KARRA asks how an industrial spot zone can be given approval under the RMA when that zone’s special function can't even be carried out? "Genesis Energy's evidence at the hearing was that they'd secured enough gas to run the new power station" says KARRA’s deputy chairman Bruce Cowan "Yet only weeks after the hearing ended, Genesis told the Electricity Commission that they didn't have enough gas, and that the Kaukapakapa project shouldn't be considered as "likely or committed in a real-world commercial sense." " This 'flip flop' from the state owned generator was pointed out to SOE Minister, Simon Power, who advised residents last week that the Government "has no intention of... interfering with the operational decision making of the Genesis Board".

“If the SOE Minister isn’t interested, KARRA wonders just who state owned generators are accountable to?” says Mr Cowan. Both Minister Power and Minister Gerry Brownlee were members of a Parliamentary select committee that reported Genesis had the option to build a peaking, open cycle plant at the Kaukapakapa site. However Genesis applied to Rodney District Council to build a continuously running combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant. In last week's decision, hearing commissioners agree that the proposed Rodney Power Station will be a baseload plant and confirmed a rule for the new spot zone which only allows for electricity to be generated from a CCGT plant.

KARRA will seek legal advice and confer with local residents, before a decision is made on appealing the decision to the Environment Court.

ENDS

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