ODT on Labour and energy

The ODT blasts Labour over high power prices:

Management inadequacies have been one of the features of the Clark Government in its leadership of the administration of public services and the guidance of enterprises whose activities have a crucial impact on our daily lives.

Yep.

One of the most obvious of these has been the failure, over most of the period from 1999, to put together as a matter of high priority a comprehensive energy plan for present and predicted demand and ensure it can be met with appropriate infrastructure.

The plan seems to be to hope for rain.

The self-serving Clark Government statement last week, that Contact Energy’s “alarming” 10%-12% planned price increases for its Dunedin consumers could not be justified, underlines the inadequacy of the response to energy supply and pricing issues.

Especially ironic as it comes at the same time they passed the ETS which will send prices up even more.

Nationally, household power prices have increased by an estimated 66% on average since 1999, when the Clark Government was elected, which is a rate way ahead of the rate of inflation.

And further increases to come.