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Does he stand by his statement that "we carefully weighed up the risks of intervening and ultimately selected LNG as the option with the least impact on the market and investment incentives" in relation to procuring LNG infrastructure, if so, how does he reconcile this statement with Channel Infrastructure pausing investment on a diesel electricity peaker because of the Government proposal to pursue LNG infrastructure?

Answered Question 12074 (2026)
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Asked by

Scott Willis

List MP · Green Party

Question

  • Does he stand by his statement that "we carefully weighed up the risks of intervening and ultimately selected LNG as the option with the least impact on the market and investment incentives" in relation to procuring LNG infrastructure, if so, how does he reconcile this statement with Channel Infrastructure pausing investment on a diesel electricity peaker because of the Government proposal to pursue LNG infrastructure?

Answered by

Hon Simeon Brown

Member for Pakuranga · National Party · Minister for Energy

Answer

I am advised that officials’ analysis showed that enabling LNG was the lead option to address dry-year risk considering cost (including generation cost), timeliness, flexibility, and spillover benefits. The market is best placed to decide on investments to meet other electricity system needs, including the case for diesel peaking capacity, alongside the strong pipeline of wind, solar, geothermal, and grid-scale batteries that are being delivered.