Call for more detail

Press, 24 February 1986, Page 2

Call for more detail

More technical information should be available before Government decisions are made about power board amalgamations, according to a Christchurch City councillor and Electrical Supply Authority Association executive member, Mr Rex Lester. “I feel there are certain advantages in amalgamating, but it’s only a feeling,” he said yesterday. “Until a total study has been undertaken, we will not know.” The Local Government Commission could make such a study, but would need many more staff, including electricity distribution experts, he said.

The present staff level made it impossible for them to do a study in the two years they have, Mr Lester said. “Also, I’m not aware that any of those seven staff have had any experience in electricity matters.”

He supported the Supply Authorities Action Group’s campaign, saying it fell exactly into line with Electrical Supply Authority Association policy. “It might duplicate the association’s own efforts, but it will give it extra impetus.”

Mr Lester said he thought the Government and the Ministry of Energy had taken the wrong approach to amalgamation.

“I’m sure they would have got good support from the supply authorities if they had approached it right and made technical experts available. At the moment all that’s happened is that the ground rules are unclear and it’s put everyone’s back up.”

There was also “a suspicion” that amalgamations would save the Government and the Electric-

ity Division money by cutting the division’s reticulation costs, he said. Power supply authorities had to bear all the costs of getting electricity to the consumers, and having fewer authorities meant that cost would increase.

There would still be the same amount of power sold, but the Electricity Division might be able to cut its costs by cutting down the number of places where authorities could get power from the national grid. “Reticulating that power would cost more because it would have further to travel, so the authorities would have to pass the costs on to the consumers,” Mr Lester said. “Wholesale power prices paid to the Government ■ would be much cheaper than the retail prices paid by consumers."