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638 days ago

Buller spared 427% electricity jolt — for now

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

A stay on a 427% increase in electricity transmission charges for over 4800 Buller consumers was welcomed today by the mayor.

Early this month Buller Electricity Ltd, owned by the Buller Electricity Power Trust, mounted a legal challenge against national grid operator Transpower, which proposed increasing transmission charges by 427%.

The increase was due to take effect from April 1.

Today, Buller Electricity announced that following court action an interim arrangement had been reached "pausing any increases".

This would be until the judicial review application was resolved, it said.

Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said given Westport's relative isolation and low population the stay was what might be hoped for in the circumstances.

"Buller is at the end of a pretty long line in terms of supply. Those charges passed on by the lines companies have a pretty powerful impact," Cleine said.

This was against a background of "an uncompetitive" market, natural disaster, and the loss of the district's single biggest electricity customer, Holcim Cement, which closed in 2016.

Cleine said he understood that loss to Transpower was to have been passed on to the rest of Buller power consumers, at a time when the district was significantly challenged after the flood recovery.

"That was my understanding, they effectively had to distribute that share of the line cost to all of the other connections on the network - quite unhelpful.

"It's a pity it has to go to court action before that can be brought to the table -- a good outcome before it is eventually resolved."

Buller Electricity director Shannon Hollis said today the interim arrangement was the first hurdle in a process.

"For us it's the very first step in the process; it's what we were hoping to achieve."

The company was awaiting a formal hearing date in May.

Under the interim arrangement, Buller Electricity will be reducing the transmission price increases previously notified to energy retailers, such as Genesis, Pulse Energy and Contact Energy.

"We recognise this is not an ideal situation for [energy] retailers, some of whom may have already communicated the increased prices to their customers," Hollis said.

However, the overriding concern for Buller Electricity was avoiding "significant hardship" for local residents and businesses, caused by the massive transmission charge signalled by Transpower.

The effect of the interim agreement was to provide "much needed relief" for local consumers for the time being, until a court determination.

One of the terms of the interim agreement was that the parties would seek a fixture as soon as possible so the legality of Transpower's proposed reclassification of lines assets could be determined by the courts without delay.

The increase notified by Transpower in December largely reflected a change to the way it classified national grid assets in Buller.

Hollis said the impact was "particularly harsh" given the small population of about 4850 end-consumers.

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This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.

John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!

As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!

John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.

Share your question below now ⬇️

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Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.

What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?

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When should the tree go up? 🎄
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What's your favourite tomato recipe?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.

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