Source: Radio New Zealand
123RF
Consumer NZ is hopeful that electricity prices will improve in 2026, but does not expect much of a change.
The consumer advocacy group says investments in generating electricity and recent rain and snowfall bolstering hydro supply could keep prices down.
“We’re seeing some positive signs,” Consumer NZ Powerswitch manager Paul Fuge said.
“Gentailers (generator-retailers) have increased their investment in generation, which is really positive. Increasing supply and generation should help alleviate some of those high prices, in theory.”
But average New Zealanders wouldn’t see much difference, he said.
“I wouldn’t want to raise expectations there. I don’t think [prices] will decrease by much,” he said.
“We’d expect the price to at least stay static, if not a slight reduction. I would be surprised if prices increased next year, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
He noted that many households had seen their power bills increase rapidly over the past year.
“Households are really feeling that, especially in a cost of living crisis. It’s an essential service. You can’t not have electricity, and so that’s hitting households and businesses pretty hard,” he said.
That was, in part, caused by a lack of competition.
“Close to 90 percent of the market is with one of the four gentailers or oil and gas subsidiaries,” he said.
“Independent generators and retailers really struggle to get a foothold, which sort of indicates that something’s not quite right with the structure of our retail market.”
Fuge hoped politicans would see electricity prices as a priority issue for the upcoming election.
“It will become a political issue. We feel there needs to be reform in the system, in the market, and that hasn’t happened. And so I think it will be an issue for politicians next year and not just us, lots of other organisations are also concerned about the price of energy and what it means for our economy,” he said.
“[The electricity market is] clearly not producing good results for businesses and households. You know, it’s been 25 years now since we put this retail market in, and the outcomes we’re seeing from that market are not aligned with what you’d expect from a thriving competitive market.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand