By Tony Reid
Mercury Energy customers have been told their power bills are going up by nearly six percent.
The company says the price rise will affect 220,000 residential customers.
They will now pay an average of $100 more a year - and that is before asset sales happen.
The business of getting power to the people just got more expensive.
Mercury Energy is putting up its prices.
An average increase of 5.8 percent kicks in on April 1.
Of that percentage, 3.7 percent covers price increases from Transpower and the local lines companies.
The other 2.1 percent for the energy people use.
“Transpower charges have to increase because they are facing a huge backlog of work that should have been done years ago. It was put off and now it has to be done and it costs a lot more,” says energy analyst Brian Leyland.
National is set to partially privatise Mighty River Power and its retail brand Mercury Energy.
And New Zealand First warns prices will go up even more when foreign investors get involved.
“That's the main beef. It's economically stupid, socially bad and typical of this government,” says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
Mr Peters says the assets should be kept in public ownership for the benefit of Kiwis.
But Mr Leyland disagrees.
“No, I don’t' think it will make a difference, the directors now are supposed to run the outfits commercially, continue to do so.”
Mercury Energy says its next residential price review will be in April next year.
3 News