No electricity concession for Chch —Minister

Press, 26 November 1980, Page 6

No electricity concession for Chch —Minister

- Christchurch ■■ electricity consumers canribt be given a 1 25 per .cent across-the-board concession, th’e Minister "of . Energy 1 ? (Mr Birch)., told a public meeting last evening. , .It was no more j possible , for the Government’to nego-J. tiate a different bulk tariff; | with supply authorities thanh it was: for the Christchurch!; M.E-.D'.. to ■ negotiate different tariffs’ with> individual consumers, Mr Birch said. !< About -50 representatives i from organisations. 'attended;, the meeting-, ana -g ave j reasons why’- they ; felt; Christchurch ,' ; • consumers should p.ay less.for their elec-i i tricity. | ..Christchurch’s air pollu- 1 , tion problem and the need; to*help low-income families! meet electricity bills were , the main reasons given. ; ■ 'The meeting was told that pollution from open fires in i Christchurch had exceeded World Health Organisation i recommended levels 32 times this year. Captain ‘P. Coghlan, of the i Anglican City Mission, said 1 that some families could not

afford to buy fo'od because i their money was spent on < paving the electricitv bill. 1 Mr Birch said that elec-1

' was ' cheaper than coal and, gas, , and I he could not see' .how the pollution problem could be helped by altering the electricity price. People should look to social answers to help those on “insufficient incomes,” he 'said. Any concession in the bulk tariff would also be passed on to those on high and middle incomes. A 25 per cent concession to the South Island would cost $33 million.. ! .The .Government was look- • irig. at-the possibility of.res- ; fracturing ; the peak-load i pricing of /electricity,-’ said Mr Birch. But a penalty'had |to 'be applied when big | amounts of electricity were ■ drawn off at peak times. : This was to encourage I people to spread the use of electricity. ' Substantial increases in the price of electricity had to be made between 1970 and 1979 to meet the cost of Government borrowing to keep prices down. Since May, 1979. only small increases had been made to keep pare with inflation. Mr Birch said that he

could not foresee any increases in the bulk price of electricity except to meet inflation.