Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:608;Page:5299] 
5.  
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy 
: If domestic electricity consumers reduce electricity use by 10 percent will that also reduce the cost of their electricity bills by 10 percent; if not why not? 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Energy) 
: 
 Electricity bills include the costs of transmission and business overheads as well as units of electricity. Consumers reducing consumption by 10 percent will reduce the unit cost in their bill by 10 percent but not the total cost. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Will the Minister review his refusal to prohibit fixed charges for which households have to pay the same regardless of how much they use and require fixed costs to be recovered through unit charges like every other business which also have fixed costs so that consumers who save 10 percent will save 10 percent? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The member forgets that it was this Government that introduced low fixed-charges. In August 2000 which was about when that charge came in or a little later than that the average charge for a low user in New Zealand was $275 a year. The average charge today for a low user is not $275 but $112 a year. 
Mark Peck 
: How does the Government’s low fixed-charge policy work and why was it introduced? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The policy requires electricity retailers to offer small domestic consumers a fixed charge of 30c a day plus GST with a correspondingly higher unit charge. It was introduced to ensure that people who use only small amounts of electricity pay only small bills. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: As electricity savings have only just hit 4 percent despite the Minister’s call for a 10 percent saving will he now ask State-owned retailers to offer some financial incentive to households that reduce their electricity consumption by the level of the target? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: In 2001 I did ask and consumers responded. In 2003 I do not need to ask; the first of them will be out within the week. 
Brent Catchpole 
: How serious is this Government in encouraging power savings when the motorways through Auckland from Orewa to the Bombay Hills are lit up like Christmas trees; and how does this message encourage or discourage power savings? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: The issue of motorway lighting or for that matter street lighting is one in which we balance electricity use against road safety and human safety. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Given that domestic consumers who are being asked to save 10 percent are not actually responsible for the fact that it has not rained or for all the other problems that have been alluded to as causing this power crisis will the Minister assure the House that domestic consumers will not be hit with a double whammy and at some point in the future face increased power charges as a way of limiting their consumption as some people are advocating? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Some are advocating that domestic consumers be exposed to the spot price. The Government has no plans in that regard. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Is the Minister satisfied that all retailers are in fact enabling those who wish to change to the new tariff to do so given the various strategies that retailers adopt such as people at call centres having “never heard of any such strategy” denying that it exists and some retailers even attempting to charge consumers a fee to change to the low fixed-charge tariff? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: In the case of the one company that charged the fee we put a stop to that straightaway. As far as the other allegations are concerned there may or may not be some truth in them. I would be very happy to hear from the member if she has any evidence of such practices.