Address to constituents in Taumarunui 20.10.11
Good afternoon. My name is Peter Cleave and I am standing for the Mana
Movement in the Rangitikei electorate.
Smart metering? Or smart gouging of the needy and helpless?
Everywhere I have gone today people have been complaining about the
pricing policies of this company.
The Fair Go team has challenged the Lines Company in a number of ways.
They report that power customers in the central North Island say they have
seen their power bills double or triple since a new metering system was
introduced.
Fair Go says that the Lines Company, which has embraced the system known
as smart metering, covers about 20,000 customers in the central North
Island, from Otorohanga to Ohakune.
While most line charges go up and down with the power used, the Lines
Company calculates the single highest peak of the year and that's what its
customers are billed on all year round.
Customers Fair Go spoke to are not happy with the system, saying they have
seen the bills go up significantly.
Congratulations to Fair Go on a very fair report.
Mana wants answers and we want them now on the energy costs for working
and unemployed people in such communities as Kakahi as well as in
Taumarunui itself. Living in Raetihi, National Park, Waiouru and lots of
small, isolated places in the Central North Island is not easy for working
people anyway. The last thing people need is a rapacious power company
doing this kind of damage to people.
This company seems to be in a monopoly situation here.
This is yet another example of the theme I have seen again and again in
the Rangitikei electorate; the plight of the isolated community.
I am Peter Cleave and I am the candidate for the Mana Movement in the
Rangitikei Electorate.
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