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Power bills set to increase Court news P4
Power bills across the Ashburton District are set to rise in April to meet an increase in electricity transmission costs. From April 1, electricity transmission costs will rise $10.2 million, meaning Transpower will charge the district $16.7m for delivering power from the national grid. The extra costs will be passed on to customers by electricity retailers, who bundle all transmission and distribution charges into their final prices. EA Networks says the increased transmission costs will affect all residential, business and irrigation electricity customers. They are advising customers speak to
their electricity retailers to understand the full extent of the charges. The increase in transmission costs is the result of high peak energy demand over the hot and dry spring of 2017, followed by a mild winter during 2018. Industry regulations require Transpower to use peak energy demand to allocate costs to specific regions across New Zealand. Historically, peak energy demand has occurred during winter, when Mid Canterbury’s energy total demand is around 5 per cent of the Upper South Island’s total demand. However, the increased demand during summer relative to winter has shift-
ed the trend and resulted in a summer peak for Transpower. During the 2017 summer, Mid Canterbury’s share of total energy demand increased to highs of around 20 per cent, which in turn meant that Transpower allocated our region a greater share of its transmission cost. Transpower does not get an increase in revenue because of this movement – it is simply a reallocation of costs between regions based on the amount of electricity demanded by each.
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