Heathcote to defy Govt

Press, 29 August 1980, Page 1

Heathcote to defy Govt

The Heathcote County Council will refuse to pay the. Government for its electricity, because it believes that the price is too high. A meeting of the council last evening decided to refuse to put the official stamp to the memorandum of agreement between the council and the Minister of Energy (Mr Birch) for the bulk supply of electricity charges for the year beginning April 1, 1980.

After the meeting the County Chairman (Mr J. M. McKenzie) said that the county had probably paid its electricity bill last May, because it paid quarterly. From now it would either refuse to pay the charges, or it could make an interim payment based on the price paid before April.

He told the meeting that somebody had to stand up and be counted .over the high electricity prices. Lo-

cal authorities had to tell the Government that “enough is enough, and we will go no further.” Mr McKenzie said after the meeting it annoyed, him that the county was expected to sign an agreement to charges when it had no powers of negotiation. The county had a moral obligation to do something, he said. If the Government was prepared to negotiate a lower price for

power with overseas buyers, it could also negotiate with New Zealand users. The motion also asked that Mr Birch meet a delegation from the council, including representatives associated with horticulture who had approached the county over high electricity prices.

The meeting would aim to fix an '‘efficient and economic price for electricity.” “The price of electricity is too high,” Mr McKenzie said. “What amazes me is the way that people have sat back and allowed the Government to hike the price of electricity to the level it is now, with no major protest.” ■ “If they want to turn the switch off to 5000 houses let them, but I don’t think they will.” 1 Mr . McKenzie said that the South Island subsidised North Island electricity prices because of the higher production costs there. The consumer price was based on the cost of the $lOO million Marsden B complex,

which had been mothballed. Glasshouse owners, had approached the council because the price of electricity meant they could not earn a living from their glasshouses, Mr McKenzie said. Some glasshouses were empty because owners, could not afford electricity. Cr W. M. Hindmarsh said that although the Government espoused a .policy of spreading power, it held the purse-strings in every sphere of spending, including electricity. “I often wonder why local authorities allow themselves to be the whipping boy, passing on high costs to the consumer,” he said. “I think it only needs one local authority to stand up to the Government. It will be interesting to put the Government to the test.”