Energy Minister Simeon Brown was on Q+A over the weekend and he told Jack Tame that the LNG terminal was still going ahead, but he was using technical talking points based on LNG advice from a year ago.

Since then, much better analysis has been done, but none of it appears to have been taken onboard and we're now in danger of getting a very expensive white elephant that very people seem to want and many experts think we don't need.

Concept Consulting's latest analysis shows that the benefits of the terminal basically equal the cost. And that's if things go as planned. So what's the point? There is a lot of potential downside risk, however, whether build cost blow-outs or LNG prices staying high for an extended period.

Don't forget the lost opportunity to invest in lower cost long term dry year cover, chief among them accelerating the renewable roll out.

Regardless of how the Government frames it, passing the cost of the LNG terminal to the electricity sector also means costs will end up on customer bills and, at a time when it should be doing everything it can to reduce those bills, this could actually increase them.

The context has changed considerably since 2024 when we went through a dry year and, in the eyes of the experts, the Government is placing what looks to be a pretty bad bet.

See RNZ's coverage here ⚡ https://loom.ly/qi1OUs8

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