Power price hike - will you get hit? | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua
Power price hike - will you get hit?
By MIKE MATHER in Rotorua
About 3000 households in Rotorua and Taupo are facing a massive hike in their power bills from early next year.
Customers of state-owned power company Genesis Energy are bracing themselves for a 15 to 19 percent increase in charges on January 9.
The increase will mean an average rise of more than $215 a year.
The company is blaming the price hike on increases in the wholesale cost of electricity and the cost of purchasing gas and coal to fuel its power stations.
Genesis is spending $520 million on a new gas generator to increase Huntly power station's output and is also importing coal through the Port of Tauranga.
"Our rates in Rotorua have always been very, very low," Genesis Energy public affairs manager Richard Gordon said.
"TrustPower is the incumbent in Rotorua and TrustPower by comparison is relatively expensive. This is just us getting up toward the level of what they charge."
Letters have already been sent to Genesis' 2400 Rotorua residential customers warning them of the impending increase.
The company's 600 Taupo customers have also been informed about an impending 15 percent increase - an average increase of at least $180 a year.
Earlier this month Genesis announced a record $80.1 million profit for the year ending June. The power generator and retailer paid $32 million of its profit to the Government in dividends.
It is not the first such blow Central North Island households have faced this year.
In March TrustPower increased its charges to Rotorua and Taupo consumers by 14 percent.
That hike followed a decision by power lines company Unison to increase its charges by between 75c and $1 a day.
At that time, Genesis was the only local retailer that did not immediately pass on Unison's increase to electricity consumers.
TrustPower spokesman Graeme Purches said his company had no plans to again increase charges any time in the near future.
"We are not even scheduled to be looking at our prices until about March or April next year and even if there is an increase at that stage, I would be surprised if it was anything near [the Genesis Energy increase]," he said.
According to the Consumers' Institute PowerSwitch website, Genesis Energy at present offers the cheapest power in Rotorua.
A three- to four-person household which is unoccupied on weekdays and using electricity for water and heating is charged $1658 a year by the company.
TrustPower, by comparison, charges a similar sized family in the same circumstances $2098.
Even with Genesis' January increase taken into account, TrustPower will still be more expensive.
To use the PowerSwitch service, go to www.consumer.org.nz/powerswitch/.
About 3000 households in Rotorua and Taupo are facing a massive hike in their power bills from early next year.
Customers of state-owned power company Genesis Energy are bracing themselves for a 15 to 19 percent increase in charges on January 9.
The increase will mean an average rise of more than $215 a year.
The company is blaming the price hike on increases in the wholesale cost of electricity and the cost of purchasing gas and coal to fuel its power stations.
Genesis is spending $520 million on a new gas generator to increase Huntly power station's output and is also importing coal through the Port of Tauranga.
"Our rates in Rotorua have always been very, very low," Genesis Energy public affairs manager Richard Gordon said.
"TrustPower is the incumbent in Rotorua and TrustPower by comparison is relatively expensive. This is just us getting up toward the level of what they charge."
Letters have already been sent to Genesis' 2400 Rotorua residential customers warning them of the impending increase.
The company's 600 Taupo customers have also been informed about an impending 15 percent increase - an average increase of at least $180 a year.
Earlier this month Genesis announced a record $80.1 million profit for the year ending June. The power generator and retailer paid $32 million of its profit to the Government in dividends.
It is not the first such blow Central North Island households have faced this year.
In March TrustPower increased its charges to Rotorua and Taupo consumers by 14 percent.
That hike followed a decision by power lines company Unison to increase its charges by between 75c and $1 a day.
At that time, Genesis was the only local retailer that did not immediately pass on Unison's increase to electricity consumers.
TrustPower spokesman Graeme Purches said his company had no plans to again increase charges any time in the near future.
"We are not even scheduled to be looking at our prices until about March or April next year and even if there is an increase at that stage, I would be surprised if it was anything near [the Genesis Energy increase]," he said.
According to the Consumers' Institute PowerSwitch website, Genesis Energy at present offers the cheapest power in Rotorua.
A three- to four-person household which is unoccupied on weekdays and using electricity for water and heating is charged $1658 a year by the company.
TrustPower, by comparison, charges a similar sized family in the same circumstances $2098.
Even with Genesis' January increase taken into account, TrustPower will still be more expensive.
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