The annual discount for Network Waitaki consumers - this year about $162 for the average residential customer - has come as welcome news for consumers, and the power lines company has received many inquiries, including when it is due.
Network Waitaki has received a large number of comments since the discount was announced on Saturday. Some consumers had indicated they had come to rely on the discount off their monthly power bill.
Network Waitaki is owned by the 12,150 consumers connected to the company's power lines between Shag Point, the Waitaki River and inland to the Hakataramea Valley and Ohau. The 14 million shares are held by the Waitaki Power Trust on behalf of consumers.
Each year, the company pays out by way of a discount on electricity bills, due this month or next month, depending on when the electricity retailer can incorporate it.
The level of the discount depends on electricity used, but for low users, which include residential, it will show up as a $162.74 credit on their power bills.
This year, the company is paying out $2.19 million, compared with $2.67 million last year.
Board chairwoman Clare Kearney said that, as a consumer-owned company, Network Waitaki was able to reward consumers for their ownership by way of a discount, as well as by providing a low-cost, efficient, safe and reliable distribution network.
"Despite the difficult economic climate, Network Waitaki has maintained the discount at a similar level to previous years," she said.
Including this year's discount, $25.6 million in line charge discounts has been returned to consumers since 2000.
Power trust chairwoman Helen Brookes said under the trust deed, trustees had to ensure the benefits of consumer ownership were returned to consumers. The trustees appreciated the extent to which benefits were returned by Network Waitaki, through its continuing significant role in the community and maintaining a high level of discounts, while still providing a very reliable network with line charges among the lowest in the country, she said.
