KERRY MCDONALD: Tiwai - there has never been an electricity subsidy

Mon, 20 Jul 2020

Economist and former Comalco general manager Kerry McDonald says the Tiwai Point smelter has never had a subsidised power supply and its closure is unlikely to benefit consumers.Independent studies show that the Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter is one of New Zealand’s most successful developments. The first study in 1971 estimated a 10 percent real annual return to NZ in terms of net national economic benefit over the smelter’s life.Subsequent studies, all of which included the full economic cost of the electricity used, estimated incr...

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