Alliance Party says enough is enough with free market electricity experiment

Alliance Party Media Release - For Immediate Release - February 4th, 2009

Alliance Energy spokesman, Ian Tinkler, says "enough is enough, how long does it take to see that the free market electricity experiment is a total failure?"

This call from the party comes in the wake of Transpower's failure to supply electricity to our largest city, Auckland, after delays in maintenance resulted in supply failures in recent days.

"Transpower owns the transmission network that shifts our electricity to where it's needed. Unfortunately for us, Government rules dictate that its primary goal is to return a profit/dividend to the state. Hence, Transpower is run along private sector lines and not as an essential entity that controls a vital piece of our social and economic infrastructure - electricity supply," says Mr Tinkler.

"On top of this monstrous supply failure, another state owned power company, Meridian Energy, announced higher prices. Why? We'd like to know as New Zealand's largest generator only raised prices six months ago and currently its hydro lakes are full. A former Catholic priest recently told me that he was 'not aware that God had raised the price of rain or wind.' Therefore, there would appear no reason to raise the price except greed. After all, higher profits will result in a higher price when the National / ACT government sell Meridian," he said.

The Alliance Party would rectify this state of affairs through regulating power prices, encouraging energy efficiency and conservation in all buildings and homes, as well as granting the public more democratic control over the electricity sector, in marked contrast to Labour and National's continued insistence that the market knows best when it comes to supplying essential services like electricity.

"This will lead to a far better deal for Kiwi families and individuals who are currently struggling with high power costs and supply problems," says Mr Tinkler.

ENDS

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