BUSINESS POWER CHARGES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28937, 3 July 1959, Page 13

BUSINESS POWER CHARGES

Domestic Users “Subsidised”

Industrial and commercial electricity consumers supplied by the Municipal Electricity Department were making a substantial subsidy to domestic consumers, Mr H. S. WUH»n)« told the council of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last evening. It was pleasing to hote. however, that the department had recently approved rebates to all consumers, he said.

At present consumers used 69.89 per cent of the total consumption and paid only 53.1 per cent of the bill, commercial and industrial concerns used 28.85 per cent, of the power and paid 46.9 per cent of the revenue, Mr Williams said., “When you consider that domestic users who receive their power at cost contribute £1,153,265. and that industrial and commercial users, who use less than half the power, pay just more than £lm you can see they have made a substantial subaidy to the domestic a■e«,' , tyr Wllliasfls Mid. Hlg motion thfct tbe dmmcll set up 8 committed to eonfefe with the Canterbury Retailers' Association to consider making further recommendations for a reduction in power charges to commercial firms was adopted.

“I think ought to support them as much as possible, as I don’t think commercial users have had as much reduction u they should,” Mr Williams said. Mr R. H, Clark said that over

the last seven or eight years

“gradual, insidious and subtle” increases had 'been made in power charges to commercial users. The normal commercial rate was three times the domestic rate and there was no possible justification for it Several business firms had recently replaced electric heaters with kerosene heaters and had found that It had reduced their heating bill to a quarter, said the vice-president (Mr R. C. Neville).