Rt Hon Winston Peters

New Zealand First Leader

Member of Parliament for Northland
21 SEPTEMBER 2016

Govt Should ‘Scrap Proposed Power Increases’

New Zealand First says the government should call a halt now to power pricing proposals that will mean higher bills for hundreds of thousands of Kiwis, both households and businesses.

“They are changing the charging regime at enormous cost, to get ready for future development, none of which anyone on the Electricity Authority can explain or itemise,” says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“But the government is allowing the Electricity Authority to make a decision on October 5, then keep it secret for an announcement sometime in December.

“Minister of Energy Simon Bridges has all the power under the section 18 of the Electricity Act to call a halt, but the government is moving to announce the new charges around October 5.

“How can hard up Northlanders and struggling businesses get through when $15.5 million will be added to their power bills? The same goes for people in other parts of New Zealand including, Mid-Canterbury, Horowhenua, Tauranga and Auckland.

“It’s plain unfair that any government would consider a charging regime in which some people pay more than others depending on where they live. After all, every New Zealander paid through their taxes to build the state’s power infrastructure in the first place,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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