Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including power prices, mining in the country and praise for Councillor Lee Vandervis.
Power price spikes are not surprising at all
The ODT headline “Double-digit power rises coming this winter” (24.2.26) should come as no surprise.
Several years ago Aurora was caught out not investing in maintaining its network. At the time Aurora proposed massive line charge increases to fund maintenance work that users had already paid for but that money was squandered.
The Commerce Commission intervened and negotiated a Customer Price Path (CPP) for a set number of years to limit percentage increases. Restricted increases charges did not fully cover Aurora’s maintenance costs so now the CPP has lapsed, Aurora is recovering those deferred charges using higher line charges.
A future power costs increase could be created by the increase in urban renewable energy. These installations decrease power going to houses thus decreasing Aurora’s income.
Aurora could recover this loss by charging those without renewable energy higher line charges or those with renewable energy higher line charges.
Urban networks were not designed to pass reverse power from renewable energy back to the network. This was because customers were estimated not to be at maximum demand simultaneously unlike renewable energy being generated simultaneously.
This change in load pattern could mean extensive increased network upgrades. The costs of this will have to be recouped.
This could be by charging those without renewable energy more or charging those with renewable more. This problem compounds as more urban renewable energy is installed.
Steve Tilleyshort
Mosgiel
[Steve Tilleyshort is a retired engineer.]
Let wilderness be wild
Having grown up in Central Otago, I feel confronted with the thought of an opencut mine being established in the Bendigo hills. The region will prosper because of it? The region is prospering without it.
Australian mining companies don’t care about us, they only care about profits. Let us not be purchased.
Drive through Palmerston and see how run down the village looks, and Macraes is just up the road. Please don’t mine our beautiful Otago wildness.
Jules Heatherington
Oamaru
Restoration projects
There has been a lot of debate over Santana Minerals proposed redevelopment of the Bendigo gold field. There has been no debate on Rua Gold’s mining in Reefton, where currently three rigs are operating and a Fast Track application has been lodged to enter full scale mining in 2028.
What has almost been completed is the Oceana Gold Restoration programme of the former Globe Progress mine in Victoria Forest Park, on the east and south of Reefton.
The project focuses on transforming the site into native landscape, including re-contouring, revegetation, and creating passive water treatment.
So we have in Reefton, restoration of an old mine and modern mining starting.
Working coal mines on the West Coast of the South Island have restoration projects in place after the life of the mines.
Seeds of the previous vegetation are in storage and lifeforms have been relocated and could be returned in the future.
There is nothing to suggest that Santana will not follow the environmental issues that will be laid out, if their project gets the green light.
The debate of course will not go away.
Ross Davidson
Wakari
Unexpected praise after meter clarification bid
I never thought I would find myself saying this, but well done Cr Lee Vandervis for trying, at this week’s Dunedin City Council meeting, to obtain clarification from the staff members who drafted its intended water supply bylaw, about the installation of water meters at residential properties.
Water meters are essential if user pays and privatisation of publicly owned and operated water supplies are intended.
In answer to Cr Vandervis’ question, staff presenters seemed to fudge their answers: metering was intended, under the new bylaw, only to apply to ‘‘extraordinary users’’ of water, a term that is defined in the bylaw, along with the term ‘‘ordinary users’’, which seems to apply to most households in the DCC’s territory.
However, one staff member admitted that water metering was increasingly preferred by central government, purportedly on ‘‘governance’’ and ‘‘stewardship’’ grounds, as opposed to purely commercial.
I was not convinced by this argument and neither, it seemed, were many councillors.
The DCC is now meant to consult people about the bylaw, which is only a draft and could be modified if enough people object to its provisions.
But, as many readers know only too well, ‘‘consultation’’ is often a window dressing exercise, with the real substantive decisions having been made well in advance.
I urge people to read the consultation material when they receive it from the DCC and make submissions.
Michael Gibson
Dunedin
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: letters@odt.co.nz
