Power Price Surge Highlights Need For NZ Power

The latest surge in businesses’ electricity costs highlights the failure of the current electricity market and the need for the introduction of NZ Power to bring down electricity prices, Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said today.

Statistics New Zealand’s Producer Price Index has revealed that electricity and gas input prices to producers rose by 15% in the March quarter. In four years under National, electricity and gas prices for businesses have risen by 39%.

“Electricity is costing our businesses too much, and that’s hurting our economy,” said Dr Norman.

“Under National, power costs for businesses have risen 39%, including a 15% hike in the last quarter alone.

“High power prices mean profit margins are reduced, businesses hire fewer workers, and exporters aren’t as competitive. The excessive cost of electricity is helping to unbalance the economy.

“We need change. We need to abandon the failed model that National put in place twenty years ago, which is giving electricity companies unjustifiable profits for cheap hydropower.

“The Greens’ NZ Power plan will take the market power away from the electricity companies and create an agency that will drive down prices for businesses and families. It will also mean that, for the first time, there will be a major market player with an inherent interest in improving energy efficiency.

“New Zealand now has a choice: we can keep on paying too much for power, or we can choose the proven model of NZ Power to get power prices down and improve energy efficiency,” said Dr Norman.

ENDS

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