Central Energy Trust launches book documenting three decades of powering Manawatū and Tararua

Former Central Energy Trust chairman Sir Brian Elwood chats to Dorothy Pilkington, who has written a history of the trust. Photo / Judith Lacy

What do Ashhurst Bowling Club, Feilding Toy Library, and Palmerston North Dance Association have in common?

They have all received money from the Central Energy Trust.

A book documenting the work of the trust and its people over nearly 30 years was launched last week, appropriately at the Central Energy Trust Arena in Palmerston North.

Commissioning a book was the idea of then-trustee Professor Emeritus Graeme Fraser. The former chair of sociology at Massey University shared his satisfaction at seeing the book come to fruition.

It was written by former Feilding Herald journalist Dorothy Pilkington. She also wrote Signs of the Times - The Story of Feilding Street Names and Carncot : The first hundred years, and in 2017 was named Manawatū Historian of the Year.

Pilkington said the history of the trust had been a rewarding, feel-good project - everyone she approached had something good to say. There were times when she wondered if she would finish it but she really enjoyed it.

Rod Titcombe, who chaired the trust when the idea of the book was mooted in 2017, said its launch was an important occasion in the trust’s life. He had always felt the trust was to some extent a “hidden gem”. There was not widespread understanding of its role and its valuable contributions to community groups and organisations.

The Central Energy Trust - Powering our Community includes profiles of some of the organisations and projects the trust has given money to.

The trust was created on the establishment of Central Power Ltd in 1993. One of the three settlors of the trust was Alex Gracie, who founded Feilding shop Gracies, which still bears his name.

The trust was set up as a consumer trust holding shares in Central Power, the company established from the former Manawatū Oroua and Tararua Electric Power Boards.

Pilkington writes that Gracie saw the establishment of the trust as the optimum way to ensure a local asset built up over many decades would continue to benefit the community.

In the book’s foreword, current chairman Ruma Karaitiana wrote that his admiration is particularly strong for those who had the vision and determination to wrestle this community asset out of the electricity sector reforms of the early 1990s.

The trust provides grants to community, sporting, educational, cultural, and health organisations within Manawatū and Tararua.

In November, it granted $1,220,203 to 34 organisations, with an average value of $35,888.

The book includes a list of all the grants made by the trust from 1994 to 2022.

Major projects that have received funding are Wildbase Recovery, Feilding Health Centre, Speirs Centre, and He Ara Kotahi.

In 2021, the trust had $75,800,224 of capital and allocated $1,767,599.

The book also lists the recipients of Central Energy Trust scholarships and bursaries from 1997 to 2021.

One of the first recipients was Paul Bailey, who completed a Bachelor of Engineering at Massey University. He now lives in Auckland and is head of design at Navico, which creates systems and products for the marine industry and recreational vehicles.

Bailey still has clear memories of being interviewed for the scholarship, with the committee sitting at a table “that at the time seemed like the biggest table in the world”.

One of the five current trustees is Liam Greer. His father Kevin Greer, a chartered accountant, was a trustee.

Liam Greer said he wanted to be a trustee because of the fantastic work the trust does. Its grants might not always be big but the impact is significant to the organisation and community.

Greer is the general manager of the Catholic Diocese of Palmerston North, which covers from Taranaki to Manawatū to Hawke’s Bay. It has 24 parishes and 36 schools teaching 7000 children.

The other trustees are Margaret Kouvelis (deputy chairwoman), Murray Georgel, and Christine Jones.

In his final annual report as chairman in 2015, Sir Brian Elwood predicted when the trust’s history is written future generations will say: “well done”.