An Entrust ballot. Photo: RNZ/Josie Campbell
Auckland's Entrust election is nearing the end of its voting period, but will this year's candidates be able to break the 30 year chokehold one group has had on it?
The election selects five trustees for Entrust, the majority shareholder in Auckland lines company Vector.
It has been dominated by Communities and Residents for 30 years, since the trust was formed in 1993.
Lines company Vector is majority owned by Entrust, once known as Auckland Energy Consumer Trust, and each year the trust pays out shareholder dividends from Vector to residents in the area if covers - central, south and east Auckland. Typically the dividend is around $350. Entrust also provides strategic input to Vector at board level.
Around 9.5 percent percent of the 360,000 eligible households voted in the last Entrust election in 2021.
In 2018 it was 12 percent.
Current trustee and Communities and Residents candidate Denise Lee blames Covid-19 for the turnout last time and said it would be nice if more people voted.
"It's not good enough. We do need to see voters turnout more. The education is there, the independent election service educating people is there. All I can say is we really do encourage Aucklanders to get out and vote."
Independent candidate Andrew Lesā said he has an idea why turnout is so low.
"We've had the same ticket for the last 30 years. In the entire organisation's history, they've never had any other representation. That's why people are turned off. That's why people don't even know there's an election."
Lesā isn't the only person trying to unseat Communities and Residents from controlling Entrust, group More For You, Better for Auckland is also running.
Candidate Patrick Reynolds the trustees needs to be doing more.
"We are gonna drag this organisation into the 21st century and focus it on the the threats, the risks and the opportunities that changes that 30 years has brought.
"The risks and the threats, especially around the threats to security supply of extreme weather events or even people undoing bolts on pilots, but the opportunities are enormous as well. This principally is around solar and battery."
Lee said the experience Communities and Residents provides is important.
"The number one thing that we'll be doing is ensuring that New Zealand's largest distribution of a dividend gets delivered to 360,000 Aucklanders.
"It's a complex process to ensure that that money goes to the right person and the right bank account."
Indeed that's what the Communities and Residents campaign relies on, saying it makes sure customers get their dividend every year.
Lee said other priorities are continuing undergrounding and fixing an issue around taxation of the dividend that could see $90 more go to households.
She said her opponents lack credibility and experience.
Lesā said there's a lot of focus on the dividend but it's not under threat.
"They do this every election. Protect your dividend, protect your dividend, but nobody has ever campaigned to get rid of it. I think Aucklanders deserve a better campaign than that."
Reynolds has a similar view.
"They see their only purpose is to distribute a dividend. That's their model of serving the community, plus a tiny little bit of undergrounding in wealthy suburbs."
Lee said the trust does not choose where undergrounding happens and all the things her opponents are proposing such as solar and batteries cannot be done at the same time.
Voting for the election closes on Friday at 5pm, it's a postal ballot and there are drop off bins at some Woolworths stores in the Entrust area.
