In late August the wholesale energy price spiked as high as $1000 mwh (megawatt hour) as the country felt the effects of a dry winter - when the hydro lakes aren’t replenished by ice melt and rain. The spike has added woes to an already woeful economy and at least one factory - Winstone Pulp International - announced closure. In response, the government announced a suite of actions, including construction of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, a review into the energy market. This comes on top of reversing the ban on oil and gas exploration. Fossil fuels come back all is forgiven!

But do we need to more gas and oil? Could renewables fix the dry winter problem? And just how did we get into this mess? Vincent interviews energy expert Dr Christina Hood and Dr David Hall, a contributor to Rewiring Aotearoa.