Don’t panic, Don’t panic

Is anyone else reminded of Dad’s Army? The Government is saying that yes there will be a power saving campaign, but there is absolutely no crisis at all, and no one is allowed to say that word.

It’s like Lance Corporal Jones running around saying “Don’t Panic, Don’t Panic”.

Unlike previous power conservation campaigns, this one will not have a target for savings and there appears to be little outward urgency within the Beehive to achieve big reductions.

Nobody was even willing to say yesterday how much power they hoped the campaign would save.

Energy Minister David Parker said the situation was being managed well and there was no need for a target yet.

“Power cuts are not even an unlikely prospect,” Mr Parker said. “We’re not setting a target at this stage, we’re actually managing things a lot better this time than we’ve previously managed.”

So Corporal Parker is saying nothing at all to worry about.

The chief executive of national grid operator Transpower, Patrick Strange, said the industry was “very concerned” with the situation and he saw it as serious.

A view that seems to be at odds with the actual grid operator.