Power Shares

[Craigor]

Sooooo...

Now that the opposition has effectively nerfed power shares:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10878295

Anyone still interested in buying them?

[Spigalau]

Hell yes, can't wait for muppet inc to also announce that they will be setting 'fair' rates for cell calls, loaves of bread, etc...

Talk about the loony left.

iirc they also promised a tax cut (chew gum) which they then renegged on.

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Sooooo...

Now that the opposition has effectively nerfed power shares:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10878295

That's only if they win next year.

They sure as hell won't be getting my vote with these crazy schemes.

[Craigor]

They are going to win sooner or later though, our parliament is like a variable speed pendulum .. which isn't really a pendulum, but you know what I mean and I'm tired and can't think of a better example.

[private_hell]

i want to know how it will "add 5000" new jobs? also i wish i had enough cash to buy some shares. the sooner we get the general public into buy shares and not just houses the better NZ will be

[Zarkov]

Maybe the govt should send the right tax signals.

No one's ever gone broke buying Auckland property.

And you pay no tax when you sell it.

[varkk]

i want to know how it will "add 5000" new jobs? also i wish i had enough cash to buy some shares. the sooner we get the general public into buy shares and not just houses the better NZ will be

It is all in the BERL report on the policy, essentially by lowering power prices for businesses they will have more money for expansion etc, especially in power hungry manufacturing roles.

[Spigalau]

And today's Labour Green announcement... NZ Rentals.

Labour and the Greens are promising a major intervention in the NZ property market in a bid to lower residential rents if they  win next year's election.  

   The parties would create a new Pharmac-style agency called NZ Rentals to  act as a single buyer of wholesale domestic rentals, Labour leader David  Shear and Greens co-leader Russel Norman have just announced at  Parliament.

   Rather than paying fatcat capatilist sumlords a high price for rental accommodation no  matter how many rooms the property has, the new agency would set a what he  called a "fairer pricing system".

   Mr Shearer estimated it would cut the nation's rent bill by up to $3.7 billion a year.

[Tandoori]

Labour will be going with the CGT next election, so I don't think they'll be doing your House-pharmac.

I think that this level of intervention should definitely be a considered policy instrument, I'm just not sure that this is the right market for that - I can see the political gains for Labour if it delivers, but I don't think it can really deliver the sort of energy market we really want and need in the long-term. In the current environment though, selling the idea of cheaper power to households can't be too difficult.

Cue all the right-wing commentators to attack this policy on the grounds that it's 'loony', because the hand of the state is contra to their free-market bent, but in actual fact it's probably just a good idea applied to the wrong issue. I think Pharmac works well, but it's buying imports which makes things a bit different. Curious to read the BERL report.

In my personal experience, power hasn't been a market that's left me feeling bitter; I get a good service through PowerShop - but I don't really have experience of overseas to compare that to.

[varkk]

Curious to read the BERL report.

Not curious enough to actually go looking for it though? It is one of the documents available on the Labour website supporting this policy.
http://www.labour.org.nz/sites/labour.org.nz/files/20130418_BERL_NZPower_Report.pdf

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

I think the country needs to concentrate on using less power. Not just making it cheaper (which would only encourage people to use more).

Things like proper insulation, heat pumps, efficient lighting would make huge differences to people's power bills.

[oefox]

As soon as I can get a solar panel attached to my roof I will do it. It's already being done in europe, won't take long to get here, already stuck german double glazing in.

[Spigalau]

If under the current system the govt recieves dividends of say $500m a year for the Energy SOE's and they sucessfully sell off 49% of those, the dividend to govt will drop to around $250m a year - our taxes must increase by $250m a year for the books to balance (ignoring the fact that assets sales will be used to pay down debt, thus reducing what our govt actually needs to stay in the black).

Now under this proposed intervention, the dividend to the government will be next to nil (based on fair price), which means our tax take will need to increase by $500m to cover the short fall.

Either way, you & I can expect to pay more for these changes. The amount that we may have to pay, varies.

[private_hell]

It is all in the BERL report on the policy, essentially by lowering power prices for businesses they will have more money for expansion etc, especially in power hungry manufacturing roles.

power hungry manufacturers already contract directly with the generators (tiwa point - meridian) or buy power directly from transpower on the spot market - which gets updated every hour/30 minutes - and is capped at $2000 MW/h by the electricity commission.

there are better ways for power hungry manufacturers to reduce their power bills besides adding a new department/middleman between the generators and themselves.

[Lias]

I know that the power thing is purely a vote buying exercise by Labour, but damned if I don't want to support it at least to some degree.

I fairly strongly believe that "essential infrastructure" like power, telcos, etc should be run in an ethical way to benefit the community (ala various Power line trusts like Electra, WEL Networks etc). By all means allow a free market, and competition, a government monopoly is usually just as bad as any other, but ensure that the baseline is a "not for profit" state owned enterprise.

[Tiwaking!]

I was considering buying those shares. Sure am glad I did not.

Spoiler Alert: Tiwai Smelter is closing down and they will be rerouting the Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station output to Auckland

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Spoiler Alert: Tiwai Smelter is closing down and they will be rerouting the Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station output to Auckland

You mean the Tiwa Smelter.

But yes, Auckland needs all the power it can get to power our coffee machines and traffic lights.

[Xsannz]

Spoiler Alert: Tiwai Smelter is closing down and they will be rerouting the Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station output to Auckland

You mean the Tiwa Smelter.

But yes, Auckland needs all the power it can get to power our coffee machines and traffic lights.

and all your electric powered rubber pleasure toys and ass spreaders

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

and all your electric powered rubber pleasure toys and ass spreaders

The demand is massive.

Those shares are well worth the investment.

[Xsannz]

and all your electric powered rubber pleasure toys and ass spreaders

The demand is massive.

Those shares are well worth the investment.

investment yes, my demand is always massive, but i don't like to share