The Electricity Authority is taking a look at power prices and what is causing them to increase.
It had requested more information from power companies about higher prices and whether further increases were expected ahead of winter, it said in a statement yesterday.
The authority estimated households faced average increases of about 8% to their power bills ahead of winter, on top of last year’s 8% increase. Most of this year’s increases came into effect on April 1 and showed wide variation across the country and by retailer, ranging from 1% to 11%.
"On average, if your monthly power bill was $200, this latest increase could add another $16 a month. That’s a big difference to most households when many people are already stretched," Electricity Authority retail and consumer general manager Andrew Millar said.
A range of factors determined how much a household’s power bill might change, including who their power company was, what plan they were on and where they lived.
"We know lines charges are increasing this year. That part of your power bill is regulated by the Commerce Commission, and accounts for around one-half to two-thirds of these increases. We want to know ... what else may be pushing prices up. This is why we’ve formally asked power companies with more than 1% market share for more information to explain what’s going on.
"We’ll take a close look at that information and follow up if the data indicates anything unusual or unexpected. Once we’ve completed our review, we’ll share what we found," Mr Millar said. — Allied Media
