Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Huia Burt: Electric Kiwi CEO on sector disappointed with government's energy reform

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Huia Burt: Electric Kiwi CEO on sector disappointed with government's energy reform · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Disappointing, a damp squib, a real concern. This is what
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the SECT is saying about yesterday's big energy announcement. The
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: big four gent tailor stock price shot up when the
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: market's opened. But what about the little guys who are
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: you Berts with electric key with the chief executive, who
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: are good.
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  Speaker 2: Morning, good morning?
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  Speaker 1: At most all going to plan we'll be saving what
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: a few bucks off of four hundred dollars a month
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: power bill?
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, one of the key numbers that came out
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  Speaker 2: yesterday was that there was potential for the wholesale energy
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: prices to come down by around two percent per annum
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  Speaker 2: with the reforms that were announced, And that really does
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  Speaker 2: amount to a few dollars off your power bill, whereas
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: bold reform would be talking about hundreds of dollars per year.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: And that's just what's so disappointing for households and businesses.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: The big problem is the new generation, right, getting these
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: companies to invest in new generation, and they've kind of
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: trying to address that by the government you getting involved,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: But how do you explain contact, which is completely privately owned,
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  Speaker 1: built more generation and faster than the partially state owned ones.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Well, it comes down to incentives really, and you know,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: each of these each of these companies, they've got government ownership,
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  Speaker 2: and they're really incentivized to you know, pay out those
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  Speaker 2: those good steadies every year, and Contact does as well.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: But the most commercially rational thing for these companies to
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  Speaker 2: do is really to keep the market, you know, relatively undersupplied.
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  Speaker 2: Because they've got market power, they can keep competition out,
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  Speaker 2: prices can remain high, and then really that's the best
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  Speaker 2: way for them to operate. So this incremental reform yesterday
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  Speaker 2: that was beneficial to the share price of those companies
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  Speaker 2: because it was saying, hey, it's actually the stattus quo.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Nothing's going to change here. You know, still record profits,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: still lots of dividends, and you know, unfortunately not the
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  Speaker 2: affordable abundance energy future that New Zealand needs.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Who we appreciate your time. Who are you Bert? Who's
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the electric key? We ceoed? For more from early edition
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News Talks at b
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.