House of Assembly Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Question Time Electricity Generation Electricity Generation Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Dunstan Leader of the Opposition Electricity Generation Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:33): My question is to the Premier. Did the government undertake any modelling to determine whether 250 megawatts of reserve generation could be contracted from existing providers at a lower price and sooner than the government's proposed $360 million gas generator? The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly West Torrens Minister for Finance Minister for State Development Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy Electricity Generation The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy) (14:33): It's an important question because it has to clear up a lot of confusion from the opposition on this issue. Contracting with existing generation is not extra generation— Mr Marshall House of Assembly Mr Marshall: We're aware of that. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —you would hope so—because currently those generators are already in the market and available. They have visibility through the market, and it still means we are going to have shortfalls. The only way we can get through without load shedding is to have additional generation. Contracting with existing generators doesn't give us extra capacity. I thought it would have been self-evident.