The way Network Waitaki charges its customers needs to be reviewed, outgoing trustee and fixture in Waitaki power circles Dennis Norman says.
The tariff structure the company used was outdated and did not reflect the reality at Network Waitaki, which had changed from a ``winter peak network'' to a ``summer peak network'' with a high demand placed on electricity consumption by the large-scale irrigation that had arrived in the district, he said.
``I believe the domestic consumer is paying too much,'' Mr Norman (85) said. ``And I'm not standing for re-election.''
After arriving in Oamaru from England in 1966 to take up a role at the Waitaki Electric Power Board, Mr Norman retired in 1995 as the managing director of the newly formed Network Waitaki - and then stood for trustee.
Standing down before the coming election this month, he will end a 50-year tenure at Waitaki's power supply.
And with half a century under his belt, Mr Norman had witnessed the change from a power board to a power company; helped to ``untangle'' the ``ill-conceived'' merger of Timaru's Alpine Energy and Network Waitaki; spent 20 years putting in place the infrastructure to ensure people in the Waitaki district had a reliable power supply; and more recently watched the power company develop the infrastructure large-scale irrigation schemes require for their power needs.
Over the past 10 years, money had been spent on reticulation to ensure irrigators had a reliable power supply, and now the focus of the power company should return to sharing the benefits of efficiency by lowering prices for some consumers, Mr Norman said.
The question should be asked, he said, ``Have we got our prices right?''
Mr Norman said under Network Waitaki's current pricing system, peak power rates were still priced as if they occurred during the winter. However, because of the power demands of large-scale irrigation, summer use was ahead of the traditional peak during winter.
And due to the outdated ``peak hours'' pricing structure, consumers were being charged a tariff that no longer reflected the true cost of supply.
``In any business, if you don't sell right, you're not a good business,'' he said. ``You've got to get your pricing structure right.
``In my belief we haven't got that pricing right. It does need to be reviewed.
``We keep the load down in the winter time when domestic consumers are, predominantly, using more, but we're no longer winter peaking, we're summer peaking, so shouldn't the summer peaking people be paying more? Because we do pay Transpower peak charges.
``The changeover from winter peak loading to summer peak loading hasn't been reflected in the tariff structure.''
A Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers, Mr Norman came to New Zealand after working for power supply authorities in the United Kingdom for 10 years. He arrived in Oamaru with his wife Gwyneth and their two children to take on the job of assistant engineer with the Waitaki Electric Power Board.
In 1974 he became chief engineer, in 1983 he became general manager, and after the power board evolved into Network Waitaki in 1992, he retired in 1995 with the title of managing director.
And yet he continued working for the power supplier. He stood in the Waitaki Power Trust elections in 1996 and has completed 20 years as a representative of the consumer on the 100% consumer trust-owned company.
During his time at the trust he assisted power board members Bob Cameron and Ted Ruddenklau, who oversaw the change from a power board to a company.
He helped to close the loophole that allowed the company's directors to set up the company Network South in the short-lived merger of Alpine Energy and Network Waitaki.
In 2000, Network Waitaki and Alpine Energy set up a joint management company, Network South; Oamaruvians lost their jobs and the company lost interests, or property, in Oamaru.
Network Waitaki continued towards resolving issues created by the ``ill-conceived'' merger, he said. To this day, the company did not have a pole yard in Oamaru.
In 2005, Network Waitaki and Alpine Energy terminated the agreement over management, corporate control and governance.
``Legally we had to untangle the documents signed,'' Mr Norman said. ``That can never be done again without shareholder approval.''
A hockey man, Mr Norman played for 10 years when he arrived, and then sat on the North Otago Recreational Turf Trust. He has also sat as a trustee on the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust. Mr Norman is a life member of the Oamaru Bridge Club and is still an active player.
Mr and Mrs Norman would both continue to take every opportunity to hear the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, he said.
