Deregulation top item for electricity suppliers

Press, 12 September 1987, Page 6

Deregulation top item for electricity suppliers

Deregulation will be the overriding theme of the Electrical Supply Association annual conference in Auckland next week. The conference will be the first since New Zealand’s electricity wholesaler — the Electricity Division of the Ministry of Energy — was corporatised as Electricorp.

The 60 supply authorities themselves face an uncertain transition, and will hope for a clear indication of the Government’s thinking when the new Minister of Energy, Mr Butcher, addresses the conference in his first major speech to the industry. The Auckland Electric Power Board, the biggest member of the association, will throw down a challenge with a remit calling on the association

to "promote and foster” deregulation. Another remit will call on the Government to consult the association on any proposed legislative and regulatory changes. The future form of the industry would be the subject of “considerable discussion,” said the association’s president, Mr Eric Johnston, of Timaru. The industry was already efficient, but could become more so, he said. "There are many degrees of deregulation, and a great variety of opinions. If it is done properly the consumer will be advantaged,” said Mr Johnston. One possibility, indicated but not yet confirmed by the Government, would be to allow power boards to compete with one another for consumers outside their pre-

sent territories. Changes were also likely In the structure of the authorities. The present elected boards could be disbanded in favour of corporations, such as the single corporation proposed by a Ministerial study team to take over electricity distribution, in Canterbury. The North Auckland Electric Power Board is promoting a remit calling for maximum flexibility in the types of organisation available. In particular, it says, a co-operative society structure should be an option. Mr Johnston said that the association’s attitude was “not negative.”

“The association sees that there will always be a need for a vehicle for electricity sdpplyNft may not always be a local authority,” he said.