Direct power offered to two pulp mills

Press, 16 January 1986, Page 6

Direct power offered to two pulp mills

PA Wellington The Ministry of Energy’s Electricity Division has offered direct power supply to two North Island pulp mills, said the Minister of Energy, Mr Tizard, yesterday. He said he had offered direct supply to the Hawke’s Bay Carter Oji Kokusaku Pan Pacific, and Karioi Winstone-Samsung mills. If the offer is accepted the division will have five large direct consumers. New Zealand Steel, Comalco and Tasman Pulp and Paper currently now take direct feeds.

He said conclusion of the mill deals depended on whether the companies could come to a suitable arrangement for the transfer of electricity from the division’s substation to company premises. He said the new supply arrangements would set a benchmark for tariffs to large industrial users if agreed on. 'The direct supply policy is part of the Government’s June, 1985, Budget. Pan-Pacific and Win-stone-Samsung are supplied by the Hawke’s Bay and King Country electric power boards respectively. Mr Tizard said the two mill companies had for some years been unhappy with their tariffs.

“I have given the two (power) boards every opportunity to come up with a reasonable cost of supply based tariff,” Mr Tizard said. “The boards have left the Government no alternative but to instruct the Electricity Division to make the necessary arrangements to take over supply to the two mills.” Mr Tizard said he did not think many other companies would be interested in taking direct supply on the terms offered by the division. “The Pan Pacific Mill uses almost twice as much electricity as New Plymouth City and New Zealand has few electricity users of this scale,” Mr Tizard said.