Big power price rises predicted

Press, 19 September 1985, Page 6

Big power price rises predicted

PA New Plymouth Further big electricity price increases in the next three years were predicted by the Electrical Supply Authorities’ Association president, Mr Innes KerrTaylor, yesterday. Present Government thinking on electricity pricing included higher charges and the payment of tax and dividends, he told the association’s annual conference.

“If this policy is implemented and added on to the existing price structure, plus a' percentage of the increased operating and management costs of the division, plus GST in October, 1986, we can expect

further large increases in bulk charges over the next two to three years,” he said. Mr Kerr-Taylor was commenting on a June letter from the Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas, to the association. Mr Douglas had written about the possibility of restructuring the Ministry of Energy’s Electricity Division into a corporation. Mr Kerr-Taylor said New Zealand, with its ample hydro resources, should be among the cheapest electricity distributors in the world, not one of the dearest.

“I become very annoyed when I hear or read comments emanating from Gov-

ernment officials or advisers (saying) that electricity in New Zealand is too cheap. “Let us enjoy this resource for its low-cost production and not as a special facility for the supplementing of taxes and dividends to the coffers of Government,” he said. Electricity was public business, Mr Kerr-Taylor said, as everyone depended on it in their homes, offices, shops, factories, or farms. “Electricity is essential to the life and economic survival of this nation.” The all-important question was “What are the advantages to the consumer under a corporation?”