Kiwi families to pay $225 more on power bills

Trustpower has become the latest power company to confirm that Gerry Brownlee's proposed energy reforms will lead to higher power bills for Kiwi families, Labour’s energy spokesman Charles Chauvel said today.

Releasing the company's annual results, chief executive Vince Hawksworth said the reforms will make the electricity market "increasingly volatile" resulting in higher future prices.

“Mr Hawksworth says the Government's plan to swap assets among state owned power companies has created market uncertainty and was likely to lead to higher prices,” Charles Chauvel said.

"Trustpower's assessment mirrors that of New Zealand's other privately-owned electricity generation and retail business – Contact Energy,” Mr Chauvel said.

"Last month, Contact told Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Committee that it would have to increase prices by 4 to 5 per cent every year from now on to pay for new electricity generation.

“When taking into account this 5 per cent annual increase, the extra 5 per cent to be added by Nick Smith's changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme from 1 July, and the 2.5 per cent increase in GST signalled for Thursday's budget, this amounts to a whopping 12.5 per cent increase to power prices.

"This means that by the middle of this year, a Kiwi family whose monthly power bill last year was $150 will be paying extra annual costs of $225.

"A 12.5 per cent increase in power costs in a year that has seen nil wage growth will put even more pressure on families who are already struggling to make ends meet,” Charles Chauvel said.

ENDS

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