Grey Power Demands Govt Address Electricity Price Hike

Grey Power National President, Graham Stairmand, demanded that Government urgently address the issue of rising electricity prices. He was addressing a meeting of the National Executive in Auckland today.

He said that “Grey Power had had a bellyful of being fobbed off, and now that Government has announced a commitment to review some of its policies, then electricity should be one of the priority areas.”

Mr Stairmand said “increasing electricity prices place a severe and unfair burden on the more disadvantaged sections of the community, which includes many of our 76,000 members.”

He said that the state-owned monopolies, which generated power, were guilty of price gouging. The Government’s three state-owned generators returned record gross annual profits for the 2002 / 03 year of: $127 million Mighty River Power $105 million Genesis $172 million Meridian Energy

“Rising energy prices also have an adverse effect on industry as well as employment and it’s about time this Government showed a human face and listened to the concerns and anguish of energy consumers,” said Mr Stairmand.