Energy Minister Pete Hodgson's threatening noises on line company regulation disguise the lack of real solutions to consumers' worries, Opposition Energy spokesperson Pansy Wong said today.

"It is a bit rich of Pete Hodgson to be threatening the line companies with regulation if they don't improve their services or accountability.

"Where has he been? When we tried to regulate the line companies last year because we had identified precisely the same problems, Labour refused to support us in Parliament.

"Labour was more interested in playing politics than protecting the interests of consumers.

"Now Pete Hodgson is having to face the consequences of that. But he has been in the job for four months and all he can do is sit on his hands and threaten the companies.

"Pete Hodgson has proved that he has no solutions to either the immediate or the long-term issues facing energy consumers," Ms Wong said.

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