Petrol stations and power companies are perceived as the least competitive providers of utility-type services, according to a survey.
Research for the newly formed Electricity Authority (EA) finds major electricity users and consumer advocates are more sceptical than residential customers, with only "28 percent of major users and consumer-group representatives stating competition in the retail market is more than `just adequate', compared with 36 percent of residential users".
Both groups were roughly equally sceptical about whether current levels of competition were ensuring "prices consumers pay only rise in line with costs to the electricity companies". Well over half of residential and major users did not believe this.
The survey results have been published just as the numbers of people seeking to switch power companies thanks to the EA's "What's My Number?" campaign is falling after a three-month advertising blitz.
The only major differences between residential and major users related to the day to day reliability of electricity supply, where only around 5 percent of big consumers were concerned, compared with around 20 percent of householders.
Neither group showed majority support for the proposition that the electricity market provides the right mix of power stations to meet growing demand.
With a string of natural and man-made disasters striking the country, the EA also heard strong feedback from electricity consumers to review crisis response capacity.
A consultation paper on further changes to electricity market arrangements, intended to improve its competitiveness, is due next month.
NZN