Its so clear from the crowds perspective. We are being ripped of for power in NZ. Very positive voting on this one showing that the crowd is very united in its perspective.
Closed comment that looks like a solution is "regulate the wholesale supply market that all players can access and also look at the high prices that the local Line Company monopolies charge, they go up every year as well."
This article makes me think we need a solution based voting system for these problems. If anyone knows a bit more about this subject please contact me. Dan.
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| Comment | Total | Positive | Negative | Name |
| But the problem is the crap houses - no point heating a house if it all of it goes straight out again. In Norway (and rest of northern Europe) the houses are excellent so need minimal heating and stay warm and dry. | 107 | 112 | 5 | Penguin1234 |
50 years ago NZ had cheap power prices. What has happened? (One thing is too many highly paid execs, who have a captive market.)
| 93 | 101 | 8 | Digby Green |
| Megan here is what your report should find first. It was a dumb idea deregulating the power industry as like the health system it then needs a whole bunch of CEOs with their entourages to run them and then selling half of these companies off shore means that the investors want profits, its not rocket science and hardly needs a review , unless you want to pay me to be on the panel. | 81 | 85 | 4 | soothsayer 007 |
| Dont get involved Megan remember petrol you had a chat with BP the result was the highest petrol price ever | 74 | 80 | 6 | Robin86 |
| Bet the power companies are salivating with the onset of electric vehicles, and the push by the greenies to get rid of petrol and diesel. Electricity prices will skyrocket when everyones charging their cars at night! | 66 | 74 | 8 | Vinn |
| 6 cents/KWh for commercial users but 25 cents for the taxpayers who built the dams. | 61 | 69 | 8 | Stevez58 |
| We dont live in a city, thankfully (never will again) so are able to use a log fire. This heats the whole house including the toilet (thanks to a large HTS) for a very reasonable cost. Our heat pump will probably last forever as we never use it; electricity in NZ is a total ripoff. | 61 | 65 | 4 | Peter C |
The whole energy market in NZ is a total rort controlled by a few big main players, be this petrol or electricity. We pay amongst the highest prices in the world for power and we generate a huge percentage (80-90%) using low cost Hydro and Geothermal means. So this tells me the competitive market model set up by National in the 90s is broken as prices just go up and up every year. Yes there a small players skirting the edges of the big energy cos, offering deals that are not that good and they rely on the fickle wholesale spot market where prices can rocket when demand is high. Big guys offer some term discounts, but never lower the rising KwH unit price as a rule as they dont need too.
So Megan Woods you really need to regulate the wholesale supply market that all players can access and also look at the high prices that the local Line Company monopolies charge, they go up every year as well. I am not holding my breath that you will act Minister, but we the ripped off freezing Kiwis live in hope as we crowd around the heater in one room!
| 52 | 56 | 4 | PeterS5 |
| Privatise the power companies they said..... Competition brings more efficient prices they said.... | 52 | 53 | 1 | plumbo |
I can remember as a kid growing up in the King Country, that during the winter we had three two bar heaters running flat out, and an open fire during the winter months. There were six kids in the family and not that much money going around. We were clothed, fed and were warm. If you did that today with the price of electricity, forget about food. New Zealand has only built one more power station of size, since then, yet our power bills have gone through the roof.
The elderly are suffering and kids are freezing in their own homes. What has happened??
| 51 | 53 | 2 | EyeSpy . |
| But when national sold off power companies to their mates, against our wishes, they said they'd be more efficient and the increased competition would lead to cheaper power. Did they lie? | 47 | 56 | 9 | carnoustie |
| Genesis Energy CEO salary $1.8 mil Merdian Energy CEO $1.8 mil Mighty River Power CEO over $1 mil Trustpower CEO $1.4 mil No wonder our electricity prices are so high when we have to pay for these bloated salaries. Privatisation what a wonderful idea for creating competition in the electricity sector. Competition to see who can pay the highest CEO salary that is | 46 | 47 | 1 | macattack |
| Its simple Digby. The power was not provided by private companies who are there to make a profit. Remember? We all owned our local power companies. When the Bolger govt forced them to be sold we were given a few hundred dollars worth of shares. And then suddenly the prices went up and up and up.... | 45 | 46 | 1 | happy 55 |
| This so-called Minister of energy is going to call for a review on power prices (like she she did on fuel companies) !!!! all mouth and no substance!! | 43 | 55 | 12 | Richardmack1 |
| This is the danger of privatising what are essential services without leaving fundamental controls in place. | 42 | 44 | 2 | Wbtbf |
| Any survey by this crowd is very suspicious. The questions are asked to give the answers they require. Or require a yes answer either way. | 38 | 51 | 13 | Mrs Browns Boy |
| Residential electricity prices have risen by around 50 per cent since 2000
This should have been the headline and would make a far more informative story. As for heating this year we havnt really felt the need yet. Our wood pile is still overflowing | 37 | 40 | 3 | AlanGeeves |
| New Zealand is a colder place but not near as cold as central Europe or North America. However we live in colder houses and spend more money to heat them, if at all. Most people in Europe heat the house throughout even at 20 C minus outside. We cannot afford to heat our houses? Yes, electricity price went up, so did everything else, it is and has always been predictable that prices go up. The truth is that we have built and still build houses which are not up to the climate in New Zealand. When is that going to change? Our current house was one of those say second world structures made of 4x2, cladding,paper!!!, fluff and gypsum plasterboard (in this humid climate!!!!!!) Now we have brought up the living area to first world standard which includes, plywood lining on the framing instead of paper!!!!, thicker walls for better insulation, first world double glazed joinery (no more NZ style aluminium joinery!!!) properly made under floor insulation covered with ply (not expeosed to the atmosphere. And guess what our living area is always warm with big windows!! we dont light the fire very often in our fireplace which is also good for cooking and even baking. The retrofit of a standard NZ house is way more expensive than using proper building design, methods and materials in a new build. We use little power and dont care much what the power companies do. Sadly so many people are trapped in their cold house with huge mortgages and they cannot upgrade to first world standards. | 35 | 36 | 1 | nomoregreed |
| can you run an extension cord :) | 35 | 35 | 0 | Kaikanui |
answers. need more?
