New power fees will mean huge savings for consumers

Consumers will welcome the news that power bills are set to take a significant drop with the new fee structure announced Thursday morning by Te Aponga Uira.
The new charges were announced at a media conference at Te Aponga Uira Head Office attended by the Prime Minister Jim Marurai and members of the Board and Management.
Full details of the new charges and the savings to consumers are set out in the media statement on this page.
The Prime Minister said the new tariffs would benefit all consumers especially those within tier 2 (Where the fee has been reduced by 20 cents a unit). He said it was a significant drop in tariff and there would be significant savings to consumers. He congratulated the TAU Management and Board.
Board member Tangata Tou then revealed the new tariffs for each of the three tiers and also the new commercial tariffs (two tiers). He said there would be a significant reduction applying after 8 February for the 30 day reading cycle. He said most customers fell within tier 2 so there was a need to review and adjust the fee structure to give better balance and spread the benefits. He thanked the PM, the Board and Management.
Te Aponga Uira CEO Apii Timoti said the reduction was due to new fuels savings and TAU’s conservation drive.
Board member Steve Anderson said the reduction had been planned for some time and was finalized when they knew what the final price would be. The reductions would put $40-$60 back into households. The more power they saved the cheaper their bill would be. As regards the energy saving lights, over 12,000 will be available for Rarotonga and over 6,000 for the outer islands. Apii Timoti said government offices would follow once other consumers had taken up the offer to switch to the new energy saving light bulbs.
Board Chairman Piltz Napa said the Board had worked hard along with management and it was a milestone to achieve a huge reduction. He was happy with the outcome and the good results.