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Centralines unpacked
There is much to unpack from the recent front page story subtitled “Centralines has defended spend, after resident Trevor Le Lievre’s criticism”. Firstly, some background.
The CHB Consumer’s Power Trust (CHBCPT) own the local power distribution network, which it administers on behalf of the network’s owners, namely every local CHB power consumer. Every three years consumers get to vote for seven trustees, who appoint the Centralines’ board of directors (currently six), who are responsible for running the network. Profits are in theory returned to local consumer-owners by way of rebates on power accounts, and periodic cash dividends.
Centralines’ chair, Ian Walker, is defending the board’s grant of $200,000 to a private company, Tukituki Water Security Limited (TWSL), of which Mike Petersen is the sole director/shareholder. This company appears to be the front-company for the recently announced Tukituki Water Security Project (TWSP), for which Mike Petersen is also spokesperson. The TWSP recently commissioned a report recommending the resurrection of the failed Ruataniwha dam. It appears that the company (TWSL) has funded the report, and there is certainly no suggestion that Mike Petersen has personally gained from this transaction in any way.
Why am I critical? Because the Centralines’ power network consistently generates large profits for local power consumers, which should not be doled out to the board’s chosen pet project, with no strings attached or guaranteed return. If Centralines have a mandate, as they claim, to support local business ventures on ‘community good’ grounds then every local business, existing and intending, should be invited to contest a funding pool in an open and transparent process.
I am critical of the lack of transparency about this spend, which occurred without public consultation or any subsequent public announcement. I asked Mr Walker to make a public statement at the Centralines’ AGM last year, and then in writing, to no avail. Compare this silence to Centralines’ press release last year announcing grants of $156,000 for community initiatives, which also features in their Annual Report. Both spends are ostensibly for the community good, yet one is sung from the rooftops, the other swept under the carpet – why?
I am critical because this repeats a pattern whereby a handful of local elites remain hell-bent on building a dam, despite public opposition and community division, yet almost never with their own money, and always involving public money. This, instead of first investigating options for wise use of our existing water resource.
The TWSP recently presented their report to the Hawkes Bay Regional Council, which includes a proposal to release 20 m3 water annually for ‘environmental flows’, with the cost of this water to be picked up by rate payers. The Regional Council, under past-Chairman Fenton Wilson, spent $20 million on developing the Ruataniwha dam project. The project failed because the Hawkes Bay Regional Council Investment Company (HBRIC), of which Sam Robinson was a director, failed to anticipate a legal challenge from environmental groups to the legal title for the 22 hectares of DOC land required to build the dam. The CHB District Council under the leadership of Alex Walker in 2019 attempted to channel $250,000 to the private company which holds the consents for the Ruataniwha dam, to investigate water storage, until thankfully knocked back by ratepayers. Then in 2020 the District Council gifted $58,000 to this same company, to cover their annual consent charges. Fenton Wilson is now a Centralines director; Sam Robinson is an ex-Centralines director and is, along with both Ian and Alex Walker, a current TWSP member. The incestuous behaviour of this small group, and their largesse with public money, never seems to end.
I am critical because Centralines board members Ian Walker and Sarah von Dadelszen both participated in the decision to allocate money to TWSL, and both are also members of the TWSP group which is spending that same money. Both have previously advocated for the Ruataniwha dam, with Ian Walker being past-spokesperson for the now defunct pro-dam lobby group ‘Water Benefits All’. Will they act impartially concerning decisions made by TWSP about spending consumers’ money? The accepted test is “can a person bring an open mind to the topic?”
Centralines’ spending decisions are governed by their Statement of Corporate Intent, which is signed off on by the Trust. The Statement on page 19 features an objective to support water storage projects. I believe that this goal should be removed, and that Centralines’ objectives should re-focus upon returning surpluses to local power consumers.
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