ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
If your power bills are rising and you don't know why, you're not alone: it's happening all over the country.
As the Labour Party's energy spokesman, I've been flooded with emails and letters from people whose power prices are rising as much as 21% in a year.
Even Canterbury residents, hit with some of the worst floods in memory, had power price rises the very same week.
That's not right. When demand for electricity is low, and we have an oversupply, prices should be coming down. We shouldn't be having power increases at all because power is in abundance.
The government tells us to relax, the market is working. Clearly that's not true.
And with the sell-off of our power companies nearly complete, brace yourself for more increases as shareholders demand bigger profits off the back of consumers.
What's even more frustrating though, is power companies' lack of transparency. It suits them to have a very vague billing system, which doesn't allow us to see where price increases are coming from. Where is our money going exactly?
Are the lines companies like Vector and Orion putting their prices up? Is it the company that manages our grid, Transpower, that's causing the increases? Or are our retailers like Meridian and Contact charging more than they need to?
There's no use consulting your bill to work it out - there's no transparency.
That's why I've drafted a Private Member's Bill that will force electricity retailers to send clear, itemised bills to customers, so we can all see who's responsible when our power prices rise. Under this system, unreasonable price hikes will be obvious.
This government might be telling you nothing is wrong, and to rely on the market. We don't think that's good enough. Labour has bold, internationally-proven policies to streamline and modernise the system.
Meanwhile, my Private Members Bill will make sure you can see where your power budget is going so you can make the sound financial choices you want to make for your household.
-David Shearer,
MP and Labour Party spokesman for Energy and Foreign Affairs
If your power bills are rising and you don't know why, you're not alone: it's happening all over the country. As the Labour Party's energy spokesman, I've been flooded with emails and letters from people whose power prices are rising as much as 21% in a year. Even Canterbury residents, hit with...
If your power bills are rising and you don't know why, you're not alone: it's happening all over the country.
As the Labour Party's energy spokesman, I've been flooded with emails and letters from people whose power prices are rising as much as 21% in a year.
Even Canterbury residents, hit with some of the worst floods in memory, had power price rises the very same week.
That's not right. When demand for electricity is low, and we have an oversupply, prices should be coming down. We shouldn't be having power increases at all because power is in abundance.
The government tells us to relax, the market is working. Clearly that's not true.
And with the sell-off of our power companies nearly complete, brace yourself for more increases as shareholders demand bigger profits off the back of consumers.
What's even more frustrating though, is power companies' lack of transparency. It suits them to have a very vague billing system, which doesn't allow us to see where price increases are coming from. Where is our money going exactly?
Are the lines companies like Vector and Orion putting their prices up? Is it the company that manages our grid, Transpower, that's causing the increases? Or are our retailers like Meridian and Contact charging more than they need to?
There's no use consulting your bill to work it out - there's no transparency.
That's why I've drafted a Private Member's Bill that will force electricity retailers to send clear, itemised bills to customers, so we can all see who's responsible when our power prices rise. Under this system, unreasonable price hikes will be obvious.
This government might be telling you nothing is wrong, and to rely on the market. We don't think that's good enough. Labour has bold, internationally-proven policies to streamline and modernise the system.
Meanwhile, my Private Members Bill will make sure you can see where your power budget is going so you can make the sound financial choices you want to make for your household.
-David Shearer,
MP and Labour Party spokesman for Energy and Foreign Affairs
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