As the cost of living continues to bite, MainPower is pleased to announce that the majority of residential customers on its electricity network are not paying more for their lines charges this year.
MainPower Chief Executive Sean Horgan says despite rising costs, the North Canterbury lines company decided to increase the rebate paid to customers to offset the lines charges.
“While some residential customers with above average consumption may experience a modest increase, more than 80% of our customers will remain as they are or even benefit from a slight decrease in lines charges.
“We still need to pass through Transpower’s increased transmission charges, but MainPower’s lines charges won’t be a reason for our customers to pay more for power.”
Transpower’s charges, which the lines company is obliged to pass on through legislative requirements, will increase around 18.5% on 1 April, so customers will still see an average increase of around 4% in their power bill. But the portion of the bill that pays for the lines charges will remain the same or in some cases decrease slightly.
Mr Horgan says being a consumer-trust owned electricity distribution business means the company isn’t driven to pay dividends to shareholders, ensuring profits go back into the network or directly to consumers through rebates and community support instead.
“It can be difficult for our customers to see our part of their accounts as not all retailers list the lines charges separately on the power bill. The annual rebate amount provided last year was $10 million – this year we’ve increased that to $14 million to absorb those rising costs for our customers.”
Mr Horgan says while most non-residential customers won’t see a change in their charges this year, other categories may see a change and should check the lines charges on the MainPower website to see how they’re affected.
“We appreciate that times are tough at the moment and we’re pleased we’re able to ensure at least our part of the power bill won’t be going up, making life just a little bit easier for our residential customers,” Mr Horgan says.
Customers who have questions about their lines charges or pricing changes are welcome to contact MainPower directly on 0800 30 90 80 or by email: nsr@mainpower.co.nz.
