An inappropriate candidate

Last month I dug into the appointment of fossil-fuel lobbyist John Carnegie to the board of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Carnegie was rejected as a candidate in two appointment rounds, being specifically not recommended because he was "likely to relitigate board decisions, or undermine decisions that have been made" and "likely to create tension or conflict with fellow board members". Despite this, then-Energy Minister Simeon Brown appointed him anyway. So how bad a candidate was he? RNZ's Eloise Gibson has done some digging of her own, and turned up a rather disturbing interview (on a cooker platform, to boot) where he rails against EECA's work:

"[Oil and gas companies] are asking what will happen in six or nine years if we get someone who basically a) wants to reintroduce Onslow [a massive pumped hydro electricity scheme], who basically wants to go back to the old policies so, b) wants to make fossil fuel technology harder to consent, reintroduces a 100 percent renewable electricity target, reintroduces GIDI... that was the state subsidised demand destruction... that's the question investors are going to be asking," he said.

GIDI was the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry fund, under which EECA gave grants to heavy industrial companies to subsidise the costs of converting coal and gas boilers to electric or biomass.

GIDI has been scrapped. But EECA's core functions still reduce demand for oil and gas.

Whether he will effectively do that work, or whether he will try and sabotage it from within is left as an exercise for the media. But MBIE had pretty clearly reached their own conclusion on that question, which is why they recommended not appointing him.

Meanwhile, that rant - reintroducing Onslow (killing winter demand for fossil fuel peaking), making fossil fuels harder to consent, a 100% renewables target (now looking entirely achievable in an average year thanks to solar), reintroducing GIDI, and state-sponsored demand destruction to drive the fossil industry out of business - looks like a solid policy agenda which would give us both energy security and cheaper power. And hopefully we'll see exactly that when we throw this corrupt, climate change denying government out on its arse.