Power Charges Reasons For Inquiry Outlined By Counsel

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28894, 14 May 1959, Page 9

Power Charges Reasons For Inquiry Outlined By Counsel

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, May 13. Many anomalies in tariffs for the sale of electricity were referred to by counsel assisting the commission, Mr T. W. Bain, in bis opening address today to the commission of inquiry into the distribution of electricity. Mr Bain said that in one part of Timaru residents on one side of a street enjoyed a cheaper domestic rate than people living on the other side. Elsewhere throughout the country, many consumers living in districts served by electric power boards paid a higher tariff than that charged by municipal electric supply authorities. In some cases the municipal authorities purchased their power from the neighbouring power boards, he said. Sir Joseph Stanton, a former Judge of the Supreme Court, is chairman of the commission, and the other members are Mr P. C. Adams, an Auckland engineer, and Mr F. Rhodes, a Christchurch accountant. The Electrical Supply Authorities Association of New Zealand is represented by Mr I. H. Macarthur, with him Mr C. K. Stone. Mr A. E. Hurley is representing the Municipal Electricity SupplyAuthorities Association, and Mr A. M. Cousins is appearing for the Electricity Power Boards’ Association. Mr W. H. Till represents the Kaponga Town Board and several Taranaki borough' councils, and Mr A. B. Thompson th» Wellington City Council. The commission is required to inquire into five aspects of the distribution and sale of electric power in New Zealand and to decide ‘‘whether any legislation is necessary, or expedient, to alter or control the present systems of charging and tariffs adopted by the distributing authorities, with particular reference to the provision of a greater degree of uniformity in their retail charges.” Mr Bain said the broad reason for the inquiry was to discover what anomalies beset the distribution of electricity in New Zealand and what remedies should be taken to correct them. He said the State Electricity Department would present a complete picture of the means of distribution of electric power in the Dominion. Mr Bain said the varying tariffs in New Zealand were the cause of much friction, but there were cogent reasons for some of the disparities in charges.

“The various discrepancies are possibly the most thought-pro-voking which will come to your notice in the course of this inquiry,” he said.