Unison is a seriously big community asset.
It might be worth about $750 million. It made a profit this year of $40m after tax.
At the trust's annual general meeting I identified just seven actual power consumers who were not also Unison employees or trustees.
Seven! It seems such a small number out of 59,000 consumers.
Only two questions were asked of the trustees we elected. It felt like no one cares or is interested in the potential Unison has for our community.
Unison has declared a dividend of $12.7m, up from $9.7m.
All power consumers recently received a cheque for $200 - great news for us consumers. I did wonder, however, if $12m is a fair share of the $40m profit? The next question is whether the model of distributing all the dividend to power consumers is the right one?
As an example, nearly $3m each year could be available to support our hard working local charities and community groups if $50 per consumer from the growth in dividends was used to support them.
Many of us are involved in charities and clubs that constantly struggle for funds.
Quite rightly some people will say the Power Consumer Trust distribution cheque makes a big difference to some families, but did you know that of the cheques sent out each year around 1500 are never banked?
It's a delicate balance, but channelling some of the distribution to the charitable sector will do more to help those in need.
Let's start the discussion and think about how an incredible asset like Unison can play its role in supporting Hawke's Bay to thrive.
