Skiers good for power business

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 419, 14 January 1992, Page 5

Skiers good for power business

Much has been said about how good the ski industry is for the local economy of the central plateau, but seldom is it quantified. King Country Energy general manager Peter Till has just worked out what every skier means in tcrms of electricity saies and says the figures show a skier uses electricity about the rate of a single bar heater. Mr Till told the December board meeting that comparing skier numbers with unit saies, he dcduced a skier users four kilowatt hours on the field to power lifts, heat his pie and warm up the ticket dispenser etc. A skier generates about 20 kilowatt hours

of extra usage off the mountain for his petrol pump, cooking his breakfast and dinner and the downstream effects of lift operator accommodation etc. "To put this in perspective," Mr Till said, "a domestic customer uses about 20 kilowatt hours a day and a hot water cylinder cupboard absorbs three kilowatt hours per day. A car generates about four kilowatts of every when cruising along in a limited speed zone." All this is good news for King country Energy, with a record ski season following the elcctrification of the Turoa Skifield last summer.