How come we have to pay for an upgrade for Auckland’s electricity infrastructure? Wasn’t Key the one who sold 49% of our power companies?
For all Key’s ‘use of the word ‘freak’ to explain this power outage, it was a weakness well identified before it happened.
The only comfort are all those Auckland National Party voters sitting in the dark wondering how well known weaknesses within the network weren’t being solved by the free market.
The media was describing 85,000 “customers” as affected by these power outages rather than people or households or communities, which fits directly with market speak. Indeed if ‘semi’ privatised utilities are so great why do they regularly skimp on maintenance? Because, the “customers” dollars they gouged with excessive charges have already been distributed to shareholders and CEOs.
It was aging 40 year old technology (gas insulated 110kv cables) in need of TLC that bought Auckland CBD to its knees in the 90s for five weeks in Jan/Feb 1998. And here again it seems at the Penrose substation which the National Grid feeds into although it may involve oil based insulation of the cables–similarly a method popular from 1960s to 90s.
Publicly owned electricity is needed for safety and maximum outage prevention. Even torys should be able to agree with that if not the economic sovereignty and employment benefits.
Will this be another PPP type bailout is the big question? That is why Remmers jaffas lights out does matter to the rest of us.
Should be able to but they won’t. No profit for themselves in state ownership.
Yep, it will be – got to protect those private profits no matter how much it costs the taxpayers.
Haven’t you learned yet? We pay for everything including for the rich to be rich.
“Haven’t you learned yet? We pay for everything including for the rich to be rich. ”
Which is why I keep saying middle NZ are idiots. They subsides everything, whilst the rich – get richer.
Yes, there will be much pleasure to be gained over the next three years knowing that a lot of National voters will be suffering for one reason or another from this government (sad the rest of us (and the flora and fauna) have to suffer for their sins as well, though)
But they’ll continue to blame “The state that Labour left us in” just as Key and English have done.
[…] Bradbury asks on his blog the Daily Blog why Aucklanders have to pay for their powergrid upgrades? He does so because John Key promised us that privatisation would make for good […]
Bill English .
Quote . ”Under the Labour/ Greens power policy you will be subjected to major power outages and blackouts”. Unquote.
Well Bill?……………Are you there Bill?
This is why privatisation of major utilities, real or quasi never works. None of the share holders ever expect to pay out their own money to improve the business. They want easy money and they want it now. Its the age of entitlement!
The wondrous share investor model, demand maximum return for minimum investment. Make that never invest anything in the nuts and bolts of system however.
If the “market” was really pure they would pay plenty to upgrade this system to reflect the 21st century’s demands and then recoup over decades through market penetration and innovation in a true competitive environment to reclaim investment. That or band aid it and lose business.
But this is NZ so will we see the true to form corporate welfare model that will be a hand out to these bludgers by the end user paying for infrastructure modernisation and upgrades through hikes in charges? Probably!
You can’t have a competitive market where a natural monopoly holds sway – unless you want to pay multiples of the price that the monopoly charges as we do with telecommunications now.
I Didn’t realise vector had been sold by last terms national government? If they haven’t been sold then they should have retained the dividend payout to help pay for the upgrade.
Martyn,
Government all the way to Key, knew the electricity grid is old and needed upgrading like the US and others.
Same applies where ever we are in the country.
I should know being in the industry for 40yrs.
Key sold the assets so he could later not face the upgrades himself, so he will do another taxpayer bailout as it is easier to swallow then.
He couldn’t expect a top dollar for the sale if this was widely known at the time of the tenders could he? so he silenced the press about the need for upgrades until after the sale right!
He is just a shrewd car salesman type, and screwed the dumb voter as they bought it all, more’s the pity.
well as Stiassny has already sold the Wellington lines business to Honkers billionaire Li Ka Shing,he might as well flog the rest off as well.Vector have a history of borrowing to pay dividends and a share price that hardly moves.Cost cutting and increasing charges is a feature of Stiassny management…take a look at his involvement with Metro Water.Penny will know all the details I’m sure.
So privatisation and profit taking instead of reinvestment in infrastructure has come back to bite jaffas on the arse. Surprise surprise.
Just think, one day soon, it will not come back on, regardless of what any government can do, and they know it.
Sorry I forgot you believe in ‘human rights’, and unlimited growth ie Kiwi Saver ))
’22 After’, coming to a town near you, sooner than any of us can imagine.
Sadly
…….
People have such short memories.
Max Bradford.
And before him the phony ‘Labour’ government of the mid-80s.
Martyn, this had absolutly nothing to do with National’s part privatization of the SOE generator/retailers.
Both Vector and Transpower are monopoly providers whose revenue and expenditure is set by the Commerce Commission. The question is, how much ‘gold-plating’ to infrastructure is the consumer willing to bear? At the end of day, someone has to pay for it.
“Gold-plating” !? WTF half of Auckland is without power. This is basic maintenance.
As someone who worked in the power supply industry for years I know for sure that maintenance and upgrade programs came to a grinding halt and the crews all terminated with privatisation. Assets were stripped for a quick buck and the fault response teams cut to the bare minimum, hence any natural disaster and they are totally overwhelmed. You the public were told the lie it was all about efficiency, yeah rite.
Dont get excited 80,000 is about 6% of Auckland population.
havent even noticed a flicker.
Was it not shonKey that brayed: if you want power cuts, vote Labour. GOTCHA!
Just the beginning of the turning worm but the process is going to be very painful for the prols, but then that is what may be needed to wake them from their Keysian trance.
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