Dunedin resident John Van Buskirk is questioning how his power bill can be so high. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH A Dunedin octogenarian living in a small house with gas-fuelled hot water and stove has been wondering why his electricity bill is $500 a month. Retired music lecturer John Van Buskirk, 80, said his electricity bill last month was eye-watering at $521 and this month it was $498. ‘‘I mean, I’m lucky I can afford to pay that bill, but I think of all the other people and there must be lots who can’t. ‘‘They must have to make choices and I don’t think they should be the sort of choices they should have to make. ‘‘There is only me here and though I have two heat pumps going, they are not big and I have gas for hot water and stovetop. ‘‘So, I do wonder why it costs me so much.’’ His living area is about 100sq m and he has a heat pump in the entrance to the house and another in the living room. They are small and set to 21°C for the day and turned down at night. ‘‘I did get double-glazing four or five years ago. ‘‘And the insulation — the batts are all where they should be.’’ It was obvious the peak price months were the chilliest, he said. ‘‘But I’ve never had anything that high. ‘‘I’ve been here 10 years and it has never got to that level.’’ He gave piano lessons in one room and ran a heater to keep it warm, so that might be adding to the cost. But $500 for a month was very expensive, he said. His retailer was Contact Energy and he thought about changing but felt there was not much difference between any of the power companies. A Contact Energy spokeswoman said winter heating can increase power bills. Contact Energy encouraged customers having trouble with their energy bill to get in touch ‘‘as we have many ways to support and help’’. The company said it was helping support and shift homes and businesses to using energy off-peak. ‘‘More than a third of our customers are on good night rates, free power from 9pm-midnight each weekday, or good weekends, free power from 9am-5pm Saturday and Sunday.’’ So far, 375 million hours of free electricity had been supplied since the time-of-use plans were launched in 2021. steve.hepburn@odt.co.nz
