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Wairoa District Mayor Craig Little.
photo: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone
High electricity prices not only hurt the interests of manufacturers, but also the interests of local governments.
Wairoa District Council says energy costs in the district have risen 40 per cent in the past three months.
Mayor Craig Little told ABC New Zealand the town relied on electric pumps to supply water to residents and the rising prices were a concern.
“I think people across the country were caught by surprise, as were we. You try to predict it, but you can’t predict it exactly – our pumps have big electric motors and this is going to be a huge hit for us,” he said.
minister Met with several manufacturing companies this weekproposed by Winstone Pulp International Closed due to high wholesale energy prices.
The closure of the plant will result in the loss of 230 jobs.
Little said the increase in electricity could end up being a financial burden for residents.
“We have to consider the water bills people pay, but ultimately they have to pay for it and hopefully we can absorb that cost somehow.”
The mayor is also concerned about large employers in the area, such as meat processor Affco.
“Businesses like Affco who buy water from us, they have to pay extra for electricity… It’s pretty scary what’s happening around the country at the moment.
“It’s really difficult and we have to look for other alternative energy sources.”
Little wants to see strong government incentives for solar power so that households and businesses can afford to put solar panels on their roofs.
“I would never tell a government what to do, but look at Australia and what they’ve done there.”
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