It is said that you
reap what you sow. The developing saga of lines company Aurora /Delta which is
in turn owned by the Dunedin City Council (DCC) raises several other issues
beside delinquent maintenance of their power lines. Delta estimate around 3000
of their power poles are not fit for the purpose. There has already been one
staff death due to a pole snapping during routine “maintenance”.
There is a widespread
belief that public ownership of utilities such as a lines company gives the
public greater security of supply, control of service delivery at a fairer
price, coupled with a healthy dividend back to the parent company. That simply
isn’t true.
