Renewables rebound, residential electricity costs drop

Renewables rebound, residential electricity costs drop

17 September 2015

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s latest New Zealand Energy Quarterly shows that renewable electricity generation contributed 82.8 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity in the June quarter 2015. This contribution was 4.3 per cent higher than the level in the previous June quarter.

“Hydro, wind and geothermal generation were all higher this June, compared with last June,” says MBIE’s Manager of Modelling and Sector Trends, Bryan Field.

Overall, electricity demand during the June quarter 2015 was up by 2.4 per cent from the previous June quarter. Over this period, demand for the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (by 11.1 per cent), industrial sector (by 2.8 per cent) and commercial sector (by 2.3 per cent) were all higher, whereas residential electricity demand was lower (down by 0.4 per cent).

MBIE also released the latest data on average sales-based residential electricity cost for the June quarter 2015, and the latest Quarterly Survey of Domestic Electricity Prices (QSDEP) indicator for the September quarter 2015.

Average sales-based electricity cost data shows the average residential cost per unit of electricity used was 1.4 per cent lower than in the previous June quarter. Over this period, lines charges (covering transmission and distribution) reduced by 0.1 per cent, whereas energy and other retail costs dropped by 2.3 per cent.

“The biggest factor in this drop in residential electricity cost was a big increase in the effect of discounts, particularly customer sign-on / win-back incentives, during the June quarter,” Mr Field said.

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