Govt commitment to high dam ‘political’

Press, 10 June 1982, Page 2

Govt commitment to high dam ‘political’

PA Wellington The Government’s commitment to the Clutha high dam was political and not based on demand for. electricity. said the Coalition for Open Government yesterday. In an open letter to members of Parliament, the Clyde dam watchdog group said that the high dam was not the cheapest option originally considered by the Government and was in some ways more expensive than the low-dam option favoured by environmentalists. The group's spokesman. Mr Keith Johnston, said power planning was "just politics with numbers" which had been manipulated in an attempt by the Government to '"prove" a need for a high dam.

The Government argument. that power from the dam would be needed for the national grid if the badly stalled Aramoana aluminium smeller was finally buried,

required a good deal of dexterity, he said. The Government had said that if the smelter did not take the dam's more than 3000 GWH of electricity, the forecast extra South Island demand would take up the slack. Government planning, however, showed the forecast increase in the South Island amounted to only 200 GWH — a fraction of the power produced by the Clyde dam. If the power was not used, the money saved by building the high dam instead of taking the low option would be lost. Mr Johnston said. There was no buyer prepared to pay the cost of producing the extra power from a high dam. said Mr' Johnston. The group quoted the Minister of Works (Mr Quigley) who said at the week-end. “Any sales of electricity at below the marginal costs of production represent an inefficient use of resources."