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So, what to make of the so-called power crisis?\xa0

About this time yesterday Mike Fuge from Contact Energy gave an eloquent defence of the power industry.\xa0

He said it works fine, we are in a period of transition, the investment is being made and it will all work out well in the end.\xa0

Tell that to the mills who have so far closed, or stopped, and the workers who are waiting to hear whether they have jobs.\xa0

Tell that to the businesses paying double what they did last year for power.\xa0

Tell that to the farming sector, the likes of Fonterra, who say this now affects our export competitiveness.\xa0

They claim they have been arguing for industry reform for ages now. ANZCO, who are into meat, are paying twice what they were last year, and you know who that gets passed onto.\xa0

In the meantime, the Government is looking at liquefied natural gas.\xa0

Contact claimed yesterday on this show an announcement was coming on gas. Let's hope it's good.\xa0

And at some point we may or may not hear from the Commerce Commission or the Electricity Authority.\xa0

Although, if you have followed the various scraps of late over things like petrol, or building supplies, or supermarkets, or banks, when the likes of authorities get involved it appears to be more headline noise than any actual change.\xa0

The big picture is the key here. If we can't make enough power now, even with the arrival of the new stuff like the geothermal power and the wind and the solar, where do EV's, data centres and AI fit in?\xa0

Whether at a crisis point or not, power is too expensive in this country and not just too expensive, but clearly unreliable.\xa0

Three main things drive the industry currently - rain, gas, and wind.\xa0

There isn't enough rain currently.\xa0

We stopped looking for gas and current reserves are running out.\xa0

The wind isn't blowing.\xa0

That's three good options on paper but in reality, it doesn\u2019t work.\xa0

So the industry says don\u2019t panic but the users say it\u2019s a crisis and our exports are being hit.\xa0

It seems to me this is a job for the Government. Jawboning, to this point, hasn\u2019t and isn't working. Leaving it to the market isn't working.\xa0

If you don\u2019t have power, you are third world.\xa0

We look, currently, pretty third world.\xa0

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