Williams Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 28 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:8322. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
3. 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Energy and Resources 
: Does he agree with Grey Power New Zealand that “Privatisation means not only higher prices but suppression of energy efficiency and household energy options that reduce electricity sales and profits”; if not why not? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery) 
 on behalf of the Minister of Energy and Resources: No the Minister does not agree. Regardless of ownership electricity prices are set in a competitive market and all suppliers face the same competitive pressures and constraints no matter what their ownership is. I note that in the latest quarterly survey Contact Energy the largest privately owned electricity company in New Zealand has the lowest national-weighted average for electricity retailers. As for energy efficiency New Zealanders have embraced energy efficiency over the past few years as evidenced by the 200000-plus households that have insulated their homes under the Government’s programme. I note also the very favourable response to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority Energy Spot advertorials which screen seven times a week across a number of channels. To date 82 percent of New Zealanders have seen those programmes and recall them and 41 percent report taking action on them. They are very good results. 
Andrew Williams 
: Does he accept the research findings of Geoff Bertram of Victoria University that relatively New Zealand power prices have escalated far more rapidly than power prices in the United States the UK Japan France and South Korea; if so what action will the Government be taking to address the rate at which electricity companies can increase prices? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I note the irony that those prices have increased at a time when the industry is largely in public ownership when we look at the fact that New Zealand’s largest privately owned electricity retailer Contact Energy currently offers the cheapest prices and when in that same survey 15 out of 21 regions in which the Powerswitch website operates reported that it is private companies that are offering the cheapest prices. So I think Mr Williams you are on to it and we are on the right track. 
Andrew Williams 
: Why are New Zealanders paying substantially more for power than consumers in many other developed countries? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: That is an assertion the member may make that I do not particularly agree with. What I do know is that under 9 years of a Labour Government we had an annual increase in excess of 8 percent. Since the National Government came into office it has slowed to 4.5 percent. 
Andrew Williams 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked why New Zealanders are paying substantially right now. I did not want to hear about what happened under the Labour Government 4 or 5 years ago. I want to know about now. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! And the Minister having received the question has every right to answer it. Have the members got further supplementary questions? 
Andrew Williams 
: What specific steps if any is the Government taking to reduce household electricity prices? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I will resume where I was before because the trend when we came to Government was for rapidly escalating electricity prices. Under the 9 years of the previous Government—I will not name those members; they are your friends—we had an 8 percent per annum price increase. But under this Government where we have reformed the market and put into place some forward sales redistributed assets and made switching power companies a strong possibility for New Zealanders those prices have increased on average by 4.5 percent. That is a huge reduction and we will continue looking at ways in which you can do that. I have to say the member points out very successfully to the House that the mixed-ownership model is likely to contribute to that trend in the years ahead. 
Andrew Williams 
: Will the Government support New Zealand First’s policy of an electricity discount for SuperGold cardholders during winter months; if not why not? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: That is a prospect that I personally have not considered. 
Andrew Williams 
: What protection for household consumers will the Government provide as part of its mixed-ownership model programme given these companies will no longer be subject to the social responsibility clause that currently binds other State-owned enterprises? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: Let me make it clear again. Right now and for a while now the cheapest electricity available to retail consumers has been supplied by Contact Energy New Zealand’s largest privately owned company. During the 9 years of the previous Government it was the State-owned companies that led the price rises at a rate of 8 percent per year. I think we are doing very well on this particular part of the New Zealand economy and the member will do well to support more of it. 
Andrew Williams 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister is not answering the aspect of the social responsibility clause of State-owned enterprises. He is deliberately— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I invite the member to repeat his question. 
Andrew Williams 
: I will repeat the question. What protection—I say that again: what protection—for household consumers will the Government provide as part of its mixed-ownership model programme given these companies will no longer be subject to the social responsibility clause that binds other State-owned enterprises? 
Hon GERRY BROWNLEE 
: The assertion behind the member’s question is that State-owned enterprises have acted in a socially responsible way when clearly the evidence is demonstrably that they did not. I notice that one of the worst incidents that happened of cutting off power to anybody was done by a State-owned company. State-owned enterprises have not exercised that provision to any great advantage to New Zealanders. It is now the private sector that provides the cheapest electricity in this country.