I believe he was referring to the creation of BTC being linked to the cost of equipment/electricity in $$. The more expensive it is to mine, the fewer BTCs will be around...although for that to really be correct it can only apply to a particular 2016 block cycle, what with difficultly adjustments and all.
So he thinks that a spike in electricity costs would result in an instantaneous shut-down of the not-yet-paid hardware of miners, even before the difficulty-adjustment comes after 15 days (max)?
That does not sound reasonable at all.