!["The reality is that [power prices] will be going up for the next few years" — Meridian Energy...](https://www.odt.co.nz/sites/default/files/styles/odt_landscape_extra_large_4_3/public/story/2026/02/lisa-hannifin-v2_extrewrit.jpg?itok=N6nApXnV)
Increases in line charges and a new pricing system have led to lines company Aurora Energy increasing costs by 21%.
Generators are also pushing up costs, saying it is more expensive to produce electricity.
Generation costs make up 38% of a power bill and lines/transmission charges make up about a-third, the Electricity Authority said.
A Dunedin resident, who wants to remain anonymous, said she was shocked when she was advised by retailer Powershop their power price would increase by $87 a month from April 1.
She said the price had increased by a considerable amount last year so to get another hefty rise was difficult to swallow. The increase was well above 10%.
Increased line charges by Aurora Energy, which covered Dunedin, Central Otago and Queenstown, had led to more than 50% of the price increase. Other lines companies have yet to announce their increases.
An Aurora Energy spokesperson said on average, prices on the network would increase by 21%, which included 3.8% from higher national transmission charges.
Individual increases might differ depending on which part of the Aurora network a customer was connected to, the government’s phase-out of low-user plans, and how much electricity was used and when.
Line charges were set by the Commerce Commission and reflected the cost of running and maintaining the electricity network to meet rising demand.
Line charges also included costs passed on by others, such as Transpower’s transmission charges, local council rates and regulatory levies.
Aurora Energy’s prices included a one-off adjustment as it moved from a customised price path to the standard price path used by most other lines companies.
"When setting this change, the commission aimed to balance keeping electricity affordable with the need to continue investing in the network to support growth and new technologies that help customers manage their energy use," the spokesperson said.
Aurora Energy said Dunedin’s slower growth, which meant fewer new customers and slower increases in total electricity use, meant fixed costs stayed the same, putting extra pressure on prices relative to other areas.
In Central Otago-Wānaka, business customers would pay more because their electricity use, and especially peak demand, had grown faster than households'.
In Queenstown, Aurora Energy said customers would face some of the biggest increases. This was due to the shift to the prices set by the Commerce Commission, higher national transmission charges and new Transpower investment costs specifically for the region. Lower electricity use than expected last year also meant fixed costs were being spread across fewer units.
Powershop is 100% owned by Meridian Energy.
Meridian Energy chief customer officer Lisa Hannifin said it knew people wanted power prices to be more affordable, and so did Meridian Energy.
"The reality is that they will be going up for the next few years. It's been well signposted that lines and distribution charges are going up, which are given to retailers to pass on. There have also been increases to our costs for supplying energy to customers," she said.
"Making electricity prices more affordable isn’t a quick fix but the new electricity generation and products we’re developing will provide more affordable electricity for our customers over time."
