Labour - Power prices soar

On the eve of winter as New Zealanders are turning on their heaters, power prices have soared sky high, Labour's Energy spokesperson David Shearer says.

'Energy Minster Simon Bridges claimed in Parliament that prices were estimated to rise 2.4 per cent over the six months from February to August.

'Last month, many regions exceeded that in just one month.

'In parts of Waikato, Wellington, Tauranga and Christchurch some power company prices have jumped over 6 per cent in just a month. Other companies have hiked their prices up a staggering 10 per cent in a month.

'Prices are out of control and totally unreasonable for people facing high power bills with winter coming. It is simply not fair for Kiwis to face those sorts of bills.

'In Auckland prices have gone up around 1.5 per cent in one month. These projections will blow Simon Bridges estimates in just two months.

'The increases have been picked up on the PowerSwitch website. It tracks power prices and its latest update records the power bill hikes that many Kiwis experienced when they received last month's bills.

'Just four weeks ago, John Key dismissed those increases in family power bills, saying it was Transpower charges – something Transpower quickly refuted. These latest increases dwarf anything Transpower could pass through.

'The electricity market is clearly broken. With electricity demand falling but prices soaring, prices should be going down, not up. The Key Government is defending a system which results in higher bills for families to maintain higher profits for newly privatised power companies.

'Genesis, the company that was sold off in the past week has been the worst culprit beating others on the magnitude of its price rises, across most regions.

'Labour's NZ Power policy will reduce prices by hundreds of dollars a year and stem the ever increasing cycle of power price rises."

Source: Office of David Shearer.

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1 comment

Power Charges

Posted on 19-04-2014 18:01 | By sangrae

Once again Simon Bridges speaks with his feet he has no idea what real kiwis have to put up with especially ever increasing power prices time for him to reflect on his position.


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