Associate Energy and Resources Minister Shane Jones is praising Genesis Energy's announcement it would resume importing coal.
The power company said it needs to stockpile 350,000 tonnes of coal due to increased demand and a dwindling gas supply.
Genesis already has about half a million tonnes of coal at its Huntly power station.
Associate Energy and Resources Minister Shane Jones stressed the importance of turning to coal on AM on Wednesday morning, .
"The gases in the ground sadly have been stigmatised in the last six to seven years, and we are going to rely increasingly on coal because of the uncertainty of gas," he said.
"But we are going to get the key players together including Todd [Energy] and all of the electricity generators and get them to play good because we need certainty - not only for electricity prices but the gases in the ground," he explained.
Coal is not the only fossil fuel Jones is keen for New Zealand to embrace again.
Figures released by an industry body show gas production has dropped by nearly 30 percent so far in 2024, on top of a 12.5 percent drop in production last year.
The figures are concerning for those who rely on gas - such as schools, hospitals, universities, food & chemical processors and electricity generators.
"We need the investment to extract it, which is why I'm changing the law, to make it a lot more permissive, to enable people to go and extract and look for gas and also reside the burdensome nature of the decommissioning which was imposed on the industry by the last Government," said Jones.
He said the country doesn't ship in gas from overseas and that "we shouldn't be contemplating that."
"We are sitting on an enormous amount of gas," said Jones.
Co-host Lloyd Burr asked Jones who will be affected most by the gas shortage.
Jones responded: "our hospitals and our classrooms - they are safe, it's an important issue however for industry and the wholesale power generating entities."
"We should be very happy we have a company called Genesis in Huntly which may not have a good rap for some of the 'green munchkins' - but they are the ones keeping the lights on when we have a brown experience which is not enough."
"You have, I have, put the pressure on the oil industry to keep enough reserves, to ensure we have diesel and petrol and aviation fuel at a level deserving of a first world nation."
"There is gas in New Zealand," Jones reiterated. "We just need the right policy, the right investment to extract it, to ensure we can keep the lights on and not compromise the nations solvency or productivity."
"Big ups to Genisis - they are actually going to keep the lights on."
Jones is meeting with industry companies later today.
