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On The Detail podcast, Sharon Brettkelly talks to Consumer's Paul Fuge about dwindling gas reserves, rising prices and why relying on new gas discoveries is a mug's game.
"It costs more to have gas than electricity so an electricity-only house is much cheaper to run than a gas-electricity house because you can substitute all your gas appliances for electric appliances ... but you can't run a TV on gas or your lights on gas," Fuge says.
That means gas customers have to have an electricity connection, which means double the costs of the infrastructure - gas pipes and electricity lines - needed to deliver the energy to people's homes.
Gas customers are also locked out of cheaper electricity plans because most gas suppliers also demand that customers take their electricity. The companies that provide cheap electricity don't provide gas, Fuge says.
Add to that the phasing out of low electricity charges for low users, which was a benefit for gas customers.
"What that means is people's electricity connections for the low users are getting more expensive every year over five years and that disadvantages gas customers," he says.
There’s plenty of energy emanating from the ground at Te Puia in Rotorua. And there’s plenty of creative energy emanating from those studying at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute. Now there’s also plenty of electric energy, because the business has upgraded its fossil fuel vehicles and added a big solar system so they can run on the sun.
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