Stewart Island Community Board chairman Aaron Conner told the Southland District Council at a meeting on Wednesday residents were struggling to get answers about the power supply.
The council was holding a meeting on Stewart Island and Mr Conner used the occasion to ask questions of the council.
Residents of the island had recently been hit with a large increase in electricity price per unit from the Stewart Island Electricity Supply Authority to cover the increased diesel prices for the diesel generators, which he expected would increase again in the future.
The island relied on diesel-powered generators for much of its power, though some residents had solar-powered units.
The authority came under fire last week for refusing to pay residents for solar-sources power fed into the closed grid.
Mr Conner said the community board had been finding it difficult to reach definitive decisions about the direction of the island’s power supply because there had been an information lag in direction and costs coming from council staff.
The infrastructure would also not be capable of handling too many private solar power installations because the grid was not built for that.
For 16 years, the community had been waiting to have a surge connection to the power supply.
"The pipes are there, but for 16 years they haven’t connected it."
"I know councils move very slowly, and this is a classic example."
The authority had raised the price of electricity by more than 24% in June and the fixed monthly charge had also increased.
The authority was quickly burning through its reserves and they may run out sometime next year if action was not taken, Mr Conner said.
There had been talk of installing a small wind farm to provide power but nothing concrete had been confirmed.
A hydro-power station was another option but it may be difficult to find the right site in a national park.
By Toni McDonald
