Grey Power welcomes pipeline price control

30 August 2005

“Don’t stop now!”

Grey Power welcomes pipeline price control

Gas pipeline owners Vector and Power Co are the first energy sector companies for some years to feel the regulatory fist of the Commerce Commission backed by new energy minister Trevor Mallard.

Starting this October, Vector must reduce their prices by almost ten per cent and Power Co by nine per cent. “More importantly,” says Grey Power board member Don Robertson, “last week the minister unequivocally ordered Contact and Genesis to pass all the savings back to the consumer.

“Grey Power welcomes this overdue price control on behalf of the long suffering consumer,” Mr Robertson says. “Against the background of excessive electricity price increases - forecast to climb higher still, we urge Trevor Mallard to apply the same tough stance to power companies.

“The increasing profits of power companies are obscene,” he says. “Their prices are already beyond the means of many superannuitants and low-income Kiwis.

Mr Robertson says the “annual cost price adjustments to the level of New Zealand Superannuation are applied retrospectively and are lost before they hit the pockets of the retired.”

“On a list of five major concerns for Grey Power members, electricity price control is number one,” he says.

With more than 90,000 active members, Grey Power is recognised as a leading support organization for many of the three-quarters of a million retired New Zealanders. Grey Power maintains strict neutrality during the election campaign, but will respond with support and information that may affect its members.

ENDS

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