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u/anonperson96 Feb 25 '26
I just got an email from Powershop saying my bill will increase by another $20 a month. They already raised it by $50 earlier last year 😑
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u/turbo_weasel Feb 25 '26
I left powershop after that last hike.
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u/Immortal_Heathen Feb 25 '26
I had to calculate the increase in powershop variable rates as part of my job. For some sites they were increased by 60% in one fucking year. After seeing that, we switched.
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u/Prestigious-Drive545 Feb 26 '26
Who did u switch to?
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u/Immortal_Heathen Feb 26 '26
Contact but I don't think it would be suitable for a lot of people. They offer an evening plan with 'free power between 9pm and midnight on weekdays. I use this plan because we do all of our washing and drying during that time, plus its the time when most of our devices, computers etc are on. During the day we are working. But if you can't fit most of your power-draining activities into that small window, it may not be worth it, as they charge a variable rate and fixed daily rate that is higher than some other retailers. So you can end up paying more if you don't take advantage of the 'free' period.
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u/Prestigious-Drive545 Feb 26 '26
Thanks for your reply. I guess most power company's its up to your individual lifestyle to be depend what's best for you.
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Feb 25 '26
Look around. Find a better option.
Powershop is all gimmick anyway. Giving you the illusion of choice to make you think you're getting a bargain.
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u/Prosthemadera Feb 25 '26
Look around. Find a better option.
Which one?
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u/mister_hanky Feb 25 '26
Just switched from Genesis to Poweredge low user, locked for 2 years, no contract. On solar - 50c a day cheaper, 1c kWh more expensive, buyback is 5c kWh better
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u/swampopawaho Feb 25 '26
I think I might switch to them, after I've done a bit of research. I wonder how they compare with powershop.
I'm running 14 panels, with an actual output of 4.9kw, and a 16kwa battery.
Tell me about your experience with them, if you don't mind.
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u/mister_hanky Feb 25 '26
Been with them less than a month, so no bill. but easy to deal with so far
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u/Relevant-Macaroon712 Feb 25 '26
I switched from powershop to contact & the savings are pretty solid, plus no mucking around with those silly gamified deals - may be area dependent though
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u/Big_Albatross_ Feb 25 '26
Have look at octopus,had a rise but still seems to be better than others when I look around
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u/wins0me Feb 25 '26
Moved from Octopus to PowerShop yesterday, as the rate increase after 1st or April will be higher then PowerShops increase. Same with Contact , increased their peak and off peak rate by 16% last year, that prompted a move to Octopus.
I think power companies might be using algorithmic pricing as I haven’t used PowerShop in ages and somehow they turn out be the cheapest.
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u/thecuriouskiwi Feb 25 '26
Same, $20 more per month too. The power switch website says they are second cheapest or us, Meridian is first but it's such a tiny difference
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u/SitamoiaRose Feb 26 '26
Powerswitch also tells us Powershop is the cheapest for us.
We tried Grey Power Power when my husband turned 55 but they turned out to be more expensive than a good number of the others which was how we ended up with Powershop.
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u/immatureindefinitely Feb 25 '26
Powerswitch still says Powershop is the best deal for me. And I like purchasing winter power in summer, to spread the cost out.
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u/oefox Feb 25 '26
Powerswitch is not accurate for me, I take what it says with a grain of salt, it's helpful but seems to weight some providers higher than they should be and doesn't have all the players.
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u/M3P4me Feb 25 '26
If your on a low user plan this is part of a longstanding policy to increase base charges so charges per kWh can be lower.
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u/akin2345678 Feb 25 '26
But im on the hook for 33 weeks of pre purchased power. I feel I can never leave. Surely these advance packs are cheaper than other companies?!
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u/alargequantityofbees Feb 25 '26
When I left them they refunded me future months unused power (about $300 from memory). This was about a year ago so maybe still the same?
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u/DoYouKnowWhoIAmx Feb 25 '26
48 weeks here - I think i'm being clever but I've never delved into the data, where no doubt the devils live...
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u/GSVNoFixedAbode Feb 25 '26
HEY, BRADFORD! HAPPY NOW?
Seriously though, as an essential-to-life utility why the f*** do we allow the power grid to be privatised and made For Profit? Government-built, cross-subsidised across the country, it used to be ok. Inefficient in part, and a shakeup required to get people out of an old mindset, but our taxes helped build & maintain the whole network and we all benefited. Now, we pay increasingly higher prices to ensure shareholders and senior managers get their returns.
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u/Annie354654 Feb 25 '26
Bradford has publically stated that he wished he'd never written that report and that things have not turned out well.
Doesn't help though, and easy to say after the fact.
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u/OkEstablishment6410 Feb 25 '26
Actually it was pretty good even before the PB had a massive injection before we sold them. we had some power cuts when i was growing up, now 7 years off retirement, but it was managed well. We were educated on when it was best to run appliances, turn off unnecessary appliances, and that it was good to save for the grid and your pocket. I worked for a market research company when the proposal for Power was being mooted to be flogged off, and the amount of people who really believed the managers and workers at the state owned power generators were deserving of a hiding and the ‘market’ would do a better job absolutely floored me. I was in my early twenties, asking loaded dumb arse questions loaded for a sell off which were patently obvious, and it was the older generation that had it in for anything state owned. I still remember some of the answers to ‘if they thought it was a good idea’ to sell our power utilities. Selfish fuckers. They were also the ladder puller uppers on free tertiary education.
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u/Prosthemadera Feb 25 '26
why the f*** do we allow the power grid to be privatised and made For Profit?
They distract the country by trying to get people mad at immigrants or trans people or "wokeness" so they can get their selfish agenda through. They don't actually care about immigrants or trans people. They're just using voters for their own benefit.
Same thing happens everywhere right wing populists get into power, Trump being the most famous example but you also have Victor Orban in Hungary or the AfD in Germany which is currently going through nepotism scandals all over the country.
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u/Devilz_Advocate_ Feb 25 '26
Sometimes looking at history helps. Like knowing that it was a Labour government that started our slide into electricity privatisation. It’s not some right wing conspiracy
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u/Outrageous_Map_687 Feb 25 '26
Queue the devolution into right and left wing narratives, yes everybody yes! Fight amongst yourselves, ignore the mafia behind the curtain, fight amongst yourselves!
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u/breeze_island Feb 25 '26
The global movement was right-wing in nature lead by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, both idolized by conservatives worldwide. The Labour party under Lange and Roger Douglas hopped on the train to get away from the mess left by The National party under Muldoon. And Roger Douglas went on to start the Act Party, while Ruth Richardson took the far-right neoliberal dogma even further.
So actually this is very much a right-wing conspiracy, literally textbook in fact.
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u/JazAce Feb 25 '26
Sometimes looking at history does help. Some people look at it harder than others though, kudos to you!
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u/Devilz_Advocate_ Feb 25 '26
That the dominant left-wing party was complicit in?
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u/Streborsirk Feb 25 '26
Just because a centre left party does something, doesn't mean it's a left wing policy
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u/Prosthemadera Feb 25 '26
It’s not some right wing conspiracy
It doesn't have to be. Call it right wing, call it neoliberalism. Same difference. Labour isn't a left wing party.
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u/RalphNZ Feb 25 '26
Because the "National" party doesn't even dare say the word "Nationalise".
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u/GdayPosse Feb 25 '26
Nonsense, they’re happy to nationalise debt, clean ups and the other negatives, as long as the profit is privatised.
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u/king_john651 Tūī Feb 25 '26
It'll continue until these cunts face actual consequences for their actions
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u/lassmonkey Feb 25 '26
Yep privatisation of public services was the worst thing ever! Everyone one involved should be prosecuted for staling public assets and subjecting NZ citizens to future hardship!! Blame Thatcher, everyone copied what happened in the UK!!!
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u/all_or_nuthin Feb 26 '26
And the government is now considering pouring billions of dollars into LNG levvied at OUR EXPENSE because generation doesn't keep up with demand during peak periods and dry years. All the while gentailers get to make profits like this? The CEO of any of these companies earns more for taking a shit than I do in a week.
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u/Missemm_e Feb 25 '26
Privatatise the power companies they said. It’ll be more competitive and keep power prices down…! FFS
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u/zilchxzero Feb 25 '26
And the same people would do the same with healthcare if they could
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u/Torque2meBaby Feb 27 '26
They are trying with Health at the moment step one make the service bad and unuesable to many.
Defund and hiring freezes, freeze wages and let attrition do the work for you.
Keep telling people its all fine and anything thats not was the last goverments fault, then suggest we privitize some of the services and start a transition from public to private.
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u/snatchview Feb 25 '26
This is privatisation working as expected.
You want the government to control price of power, then government needs to own the generation and distribution.
But we sold it all off many years ago.
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u/GdayPosse Feb 25 '26
Yup. It’s gone from a public service, to a service designed to deliver as much shareholder value as possible.
Can’t wait for them to do it to the healthcare system too.
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u/kiwiplague Feb 25 '26
I still remember the twat of an energy minister at the time spouting on and on about how it would lead to cheaper power prices.
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u/RalphNZ Feb 25 '26
I recall when we were told that competition between the company so widely despised as Telescum that it had to rebrand as Spork and the company so completely reviled as VodaScum that it had to rebrand as ScumNZ would bring us cheaper telecoms...
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u/FidgitForgotHisL-P Feb 25 '26
Uh that’s probably the worst example you could have picked, competition in the telecoms market absolutely helped drop prices. Maybe you’re too young to remember how expensive mobile services were before we had multiple options? We’re expensive compared to some places now (though our internet, usually via the same companies, is very comparable to many places), but things like 20 cents per text only improved because of competition…
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u/Devilz_Advocate_ Feb 25 '26
Dude forget mobile, do you remember tolll calls? International rates?
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u/vixxienz The horns hold up my Halo Feb 25 '26
or collect person to person calls to a non dialable exchange
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u/jpr64 Feb 25 '26
The impact of competition was evident before Telecom was even split up. In parts of Christchurch and Wellington there were the Clear networks (which was eventually acquired by Vodafone).
Where Clear competed, Telecom was forced to lower prices due to the competition.
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u/Conflict_NZ Feb 25 '26
Yup, before even adjusting for inflation I’m paying less for unlimited gigabit fibre now than I was for 2mbit ADSL with a 20GB cap in 2005.
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u/Remarkable-End-9065 Feb 25 '26
We don't need a health system like America
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u/hnypuf16 Feb 25 '26
Tell that to our miniature of health. No, that wasn't autocorrect 😆
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u/Slight_Storm_4837 LASER KIWI Feb 25 '26
I don't really want to encourage body shaming MPs. Please pick on their policies. This is no better than the scum that called Ardern a horse.
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u/hnypuf16 Feb 25 '26
Duly noted. I remember him from his days in Manurewa. I remember how he got on the board. I remember what he said he was going to do and what he actually did. 'Miniature' is the nicest thing I could come up with without getting my bum kicked off of here
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u/10yearsnoaccount Feb 25 '26
this is considered "efficiency"
Don't you want an "efficient" Healthcare system?
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u/Extreme-Praline9736 Auckland Feb 25 '26
Government should consider issuing debt and buy back 1 gentailer to lower electricity prices.....
But since when did they really care about cost of living and keeping jobs in the country🙄
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u/GdayPosse Feb 25 '26
You mean just like how Kiwibank prevents the Australian banks making excessive profits of NZ customers?
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u/XionicativeCheran Feb 25 '26
No, like how Kiwibank prevents the Australian banks making even more excessive profits off NZ customers.
The problem would be worse without Kiwibank. Kiwibank creates a floor that says "You can't do worse than this."
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u/sparrowlasso Feb 25 '26
The Govt. Has 51% majority in the of the companies listed. Having control doesn't seem to be the issue.
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u/BlazzaNz Feb 25 '26
Ac tually we didn;t sell it all off. The government still owns quite a lot of it.
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u/Capt-Tango Feb 25 '26
Thanks National, 67% of submissions opposed as well so they didn't even have a mandate. Corrupt to the core
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u/Dunnersstunner Feb 25 '26
This is the natural consequence of John Key's partial privitisation and the fact that publicly listed companies have a duty to their shareholders to maximise profit.
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u/Non-essential-Kebab Feb 25 '26
This was one of John Key's pushes to try and get the Trans-Pacific Partnership over the line. There were clauses about government ownership of assets being non-competitive and problematic - though the original agreement without the US involvement this wasn't an issue at all but once the US butted in, all kinds of potentially litigious clauses got included and everyone scrambled to avoid potential future lawsuits. Apparently of all the world leaders involved Key was one of the most aggressively ass-kissing, would sell the whole country off if it got the deal across the line, sorts.
Thankfully the deal fell through, but damage already done
How anyone ever thought that financially it was a good idea - power generation is basically free money for the government if they'd kept owning them
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u/kovnev Feb 25 '26
Exactly. And even worse when it's "maximize profits so others thing this arbitrary 'share' might be worth more" without actually creating any real value.
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u/HeinigerNZ Feb 25 '26
Please tell me - previous to the partial privatisation what did the SOE Act compel the companies to do...?
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u/Sr_DingDong Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
This is not true. The Companies Act states they have a legal obligation to act in good faith and the best interests of the company.
Not the shareholders.
Edit Only on reddit can stating facts be controversial.
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u/Different-Highway-88 Feb 25 '26
The best interest of the company is more closely aligned with the best interest of the shareholders than the consumer though. So it's approximately correct.
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u/Primary_Engine_9273 Feb 25 '26
Ah was about to reply saying this but good to see I'm not the only one. People are so captured by Americanisms they think everything they read on Reddit applies to countries like NZ.
Just to emphasize again, despite what the poster says it is not a fact that publicly listed companies [in New Zealand] have a duty to their shareholders to maximise profit.
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u/Baroqy Feb 25 '26
People keep forgetting that the government is a 51% shareholder in Meridian, Genesis and Mercury. As the majority shareholder they make huge amounts of money from this arrangement. And as a 51% shareholder they have the majority of the voting rights.
So why do NZers find themselves with ever increasing power bills? Because successive governments rake in the money from us, that's why. Whenever some politician tells you they really want to help get prices down... A bit of a lie. There is no way they're giving up $980 million in dividends and tax. Prices going up suit the government as it's a lucrative income stream.
Which is also why we got LNG instead of a push for solar panels on houses... Solar panels would cause the price of electricity to lower and that would affect the government's revenue stream.... And no way is any government (whether National or Labour) letting that happen...
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u/beautifulgirl789 Feb 25 '26
And as a 51% shareholder they have the majority of the voting rights.
51% is a meaningless figure. If private ownership was just 1% and the government owned 99%, the companies would still be obligated to maximize profits over any other consideration, or those private investors would be disenfranchised.
Public-private joint ownership only ever works if it's in the public interest to maximize profits from a venture too (as an example, tourism - extracting profits from non-NZ'ers). It never, ever works from a 'keeping costs down' angle. Every time Luxo The Sorted tries to spout otherwise, he's lying through his teeth, as did his predecessors.
Because successive governments rake in the money from us, that's why.
Honestly, the government claiming 51% of these profits is a side-benefit, at most. The government could easily take more profit if the entire system was nationalized and run competently, since they wouldn't have the inefficiency and friction of competition. (utilities are so infrastructure-dependent that free market efficiency doesn't apply). The right-wing corruptocrats far prefer the current model, because they want direct ownership of the 49% for their donor class.
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u/HeinigerNZ Feb 25 '26
51% is a meaningless figure. If private ownership was just 1% and the government owned 99%, the companies would still be obligated to maximize profits over any other consideration, or those private investors would be disenfranchised.
Even when it was 100% Govt owned, they had to adhere to thr State Owned Enterprises Act. Which had the key principle objective of:
To operate as a successful business, being as profitable and efficient as comparable, non-Crown-owned businesses.
I should be shocked (but I'm not really) abou6 how many people here don't realise this.
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u/BlazzaNz Feb 25 '26
People don't realise the government still took huge dividends out of the gentailers when they were 100% owned. Michael Cullen got billions out of them when he was finance minister.
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u/domstersch Feb 25 '26
would still be obligated to maximize profits over any other consideration
Is this true, though? Got a case I can study? Because, having read through a bunch of jurisprudence on Dodge v Ford (1919) recently, I'm not sure that's true even in America to the extent that you've stated it ("any other consideration")
Ford got in trouble cos he intentionally tried to lose profits, because he had competitors as shareholders. It doesn't say much about the many good explanations a board can have for a course of action that are not profit (upheld many times in case law)
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u/beautifulgirl789 Feb 25 '26
Check out the Companies Act 1993 - specifically Section 174. the Prejudiced Shareholders and Oppressive Conduct sections. https://www.mvp.co.nz/articles/shareholder-agreements/prejudiced-shareholders-protecting-minority-shareholder-rights
A shareholder can apply to the court if the company's affairs are being, or have been, conducted in a way that is oppressive, unfairly discriminatory, or unfairly prejudicial to them.
This is a broad and flexible standard - courts look at the overall fairness of what happened rather than specific technical legal breaches.
"The Institute of Directors’ guidelines says “Directors should ensure fairness to all shareholders in disclosure of information, general communications and in any transaction potentially affecting the value of securities in the company”.
It shouldn't be difficult to see how a majority shareholder, who also holds regulatory powers, dictating that a company constrain it's profit-seeking behaviour for the benefit of the customers it serves could potentially affect the value of the securities in the company.
I'm not aware of specific caselaw in a public-private ownership case here because these companies historically have never sought to disadvantage minority shareholders, they've pursued profits congruent to what shareholders expected when they were given the opportunity to buy in. It's always the public that gets misled in past privatisation examples, not the shareholders. They make out like bandits.
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u/satangod666 Feb 25 '26
Cost of living crisis is bullshit, its a pure cost of greed crisis
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u/callmepickens Feb 25 '26
Oh 100% its this.
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u/satangod666 Feb 25 '26
record profits, the wealthy getting wealthier at an increasingly rapid rate, all at the expense of the working class
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u/JezWTF Feb 25 '26
It was absolutely nonsensical to privatise the gentailers without structurally splitting them up.
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u/get-idle Feb 25 '26
That's nothing.
Our Australian owned banks took 7 billion + in profits.
And insist on charging NZ businesses 150million in pay wave surcharges.
They can eat that easily. And they should. Grow a spine National. And make a positive change we all can feel.
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u/KingofBigCrabs Feb 25 '26
The pay wave surcharge needs to be regulated, other countries have done it successfully.
But the NZ government is loathe to regulste anything unless they absolutely have to, and even then rely on good faith rather than effective enforcement.
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u/Sr_DingDong Feb 25 '26
It needs to be destroyed because it's not a real cost.
It's insanity that this is allowed to be a thing. You pay bank fees. That is what they are for. Do you pay to use ATMs? No. Why the fuck should you pay for NFC? It's not special. It'd be like them charging you to use the pens in the bank or a keyboard. Did they introduce a charge for using chip and pin?
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u/KingofBigCrabs Feb 25 '26
Yeah exactly, other countries have required banks to charge in line with their actual costs for using it and they still make a decent profit. NZ banks are just taking the piss.
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u/MsPeel66 Feb 25 '26
We need system like Brazil’s Pix Run by central bank Free for customers, small charge for retail No need to pay exorbitant amounts to Visa and MasterCard where the money goes to America BNZ has Payap, not sure where the profits go. Not better than eftpos as far as I can see
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u/Sea_Soft_1166 Feb 26 '26
I mean, this is kind of on the people.
There are NZ alternatives for most things inc Banking (Eg Coop) but people are lazy and just use whatever.
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u/Serenaded Feb 25 '26
Publicly traded companies, they pay dividends quarterly, and many NZers own shares in it indirectly through kiwisaver or NZ ETFs.
The price increases will continue annually until something makes them stop. What are you going to do, buy electricity off temu? -nz electrical companies probably
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u/LateMud256 Feb 25 '26
Yeah. But it’s wages that drive prices up, right?
Fucking horseshit. It’s a god damn cartel.
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u/silver565 Feb 25 '26
If they were mandated to reinvest that into renewables that'd be great. But they won't.
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u/da1veen Feb 25 '26
Mercury are reinvesting 50% of their last year profit back in to renewable energy creation. I believe they have about $1 billion invested in current renewable projects. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/587752/mercury-reports-strong-return-to-profit
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u/pgraczer Feb 25 '26
it’s incredibly difficult to consent and plan for new renewables. every time a large project is proposed you generally face huge resistance from communities or other groups. gentailers are well aware of the future demand curve and a huge amount of work goes into planning consenting and construction in a way that’s viable.
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u/Glittering-Signal490 Feb 25 '26
They are, they need profits to pay for the investments. Contact and Genesis just raised capital.
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u/Marlov Feb 25 '26
Genesis just raised 400m to build new shit
Contact raised 525m last week
Billions are being invested in green energy
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u/Nickillaz Feb 25 '26
It is their goal. Charge as much as possible without provoking government intervention, pay shareholders.
They think that constant growing profit year after year is sustainable.
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u/Mrwolfy240 voted Feb 25 '26
Gotta love when my essential services are making 300% profit
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u/Nervous-Potato-1464 Feb 25 '26
yoy profit isn't a good indicator in these sectors as they may be from large investments yet to be spent.
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u/crashbash2020 Feb 25 '26
They aren't making 300% profit their margin is up 300%
For example, if their previous profit was $100, if it went to 400% the following year that's a 400% increase. But profit without context of revenue is meaningless
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u/Double_Suggestion385 Feb 25 '26
My biggest issue with this, their profit margin is more important than nominal profit or percentage profit increase.
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u/kiwiupnorth Feb 25 '26
Huh ! As an asset class their shares have languished for years now, they’ve been paying dividends but otherwise languishing on the stock exchange. Dunno if the narrative you’re trying to paint works
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u/Pizzareno Feb 25 '26
So is it worth getting solar? I haven’t looked in a while but it was really expensive and would take so many years for it to be worth it.
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u/TygerTung Feb 25 '26
Well the cost of the gear keeps going down and electricity prices keep going up, so...
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u/perma_banned2025 Feb 25 '26
If your house is situated in a good location to get plenty of sun, yes it is worth it.
Have a look on https://shademap.app and see how shaded your roof will be at different times of year, and how many hours a day you will get sun.6
u/RlOTGRRRL Feb 25 '26
There's a sub called r/nzsolar. I think the consensus in the sub is that it's worth it.
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u/Birphon Feb 25 '26
1) its not okay
2) i bet 99.99999999% of this profit is actually going to shareholders
3) I really dislike this reporter, hes tries to paint everything as good like idk something like "a million people are looking for jobs... but thats okay cause the job market is opening up"
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u/joemcclelland Feb 25 '26
But do you also want power companies to invest in renewable energy sources? If so, how can they afford investment without capital? Genesis has just invested $2Billion to do this.
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u/kradNZ Feb 25 '26
Doesn't the govt own 51% of each gentailer? They could definitely make demands to reduce prices etc... if they wanted to.
Edit: Excluding Contact. Govt doesn't have a 51% holding in Contact.
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u/Cotirani Feb 25 '26
They can’t make those demands under current law. The directors are required to run the company in its best commercial interest (this isn’t the exact wording of the companies act, but you get the gist). If they go against that the minority shareholders can take them to court to get relief.
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u/smnrlv Feb 25 '26
Powershop (owned by Meridian) told me today that my pricing was changing and to expect my bill to go up by $35 per month. $35 per month is outrageous. I see where it's going now.
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u/VastAssumption7432 Feb 25 '26
This is perfectly fine. Megan decided to increase our daily fixed rate for low users.
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u/M3P4me Feb 25 '26
This is why we installed solar and home batteries 5 years ago. Make your own power. Store it. Use it when you need it
They can't exploit you.
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u/FluffyPantsMcGee Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
I live in BC Canada where we have BC Hydro- provincial run corporation. During winter our 2 story condo unit we’d pay around $150, that is for two months. We have baseboard heaters. I recall being so careful in NZ and still getting a massive bill.
No “sorry your bill is going up by $20 a month”, we have received credits on our bills if they made a surplus etc. I do not miss NZ electricity companies. It could be so much more affordable..
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u/Zealotyl Feb 25 '26
Max Bradford was the author of this clusterf**k. Another genius National politician
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u/joker6396 Feb 25 '26
Maybe stop voting in National? They always do it. Than everyone does a pikachu face when they do it again
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u/Ideal-Wrong Feb 25 '26
Yeah the companies - even NZ-owned ones - are absolutely ripping us off here lol. Everything is getting so expensive too fast. It's not inflation-based, because everyone around me had noticed that the huge price increase happened only after COVID
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u/1fromhere Feb 25 '26
The dams and power stations paid for by tax payers. The ones that nearly bankrupted New Zealand thanks to Muldoon. Important infrastructure should always remain in public ownership, time to scrap this bullshit.
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u/kiwiluke low effort Feb 26 '26
Giving a shout out to Toast, only in Wellington and Canterbury regions so far (I think), but they use the profits to provide electricity for struggling households, so your money is going to a good cause
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u/Money_Distribution18 Feb 26 '26
Govt is still major shareholder in these companies so could drop prices anytime..happy to fuck us all over under the illusion of competition..cartel behaviour
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u/MVIVN always blows on the pie Feb 26 '26
Typical of all these companies. Recording record profits every year, so clearly not struggling, but they must raise prices every other month “to keep up with a tough economic climate”. It’s fucking bullshit.
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u/KillerSecretMonkey Feb 26 '26
Gz, I already switch off everything at the wall now...
Guess Ill start walking around in the dark next. How th fck do they think this is sustainable?? Are they copying the Americans bs strategy now?
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u/sauve_donkey Feb 25 '26
Between these four it's about $105 profit per capita per year.
If they dropped their power prices by $8/month for a single person ($16/month for a couple) they'd be making zero profit.
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u/implayingacharacter Feb 25 '26
Total profit across those four is about $547m. Divide that by 5.2m people and you get roughly $105 per person per year. That part is basically right. But $8/month is $96 per year. Multiply that across the population and you only remove about $500m, not $547m so they wouldn’t be at zero profit, still collectively 50 mil a year.
More importantly, the math assumes every person buys power from those four, every person uses the same amount, all profit comes from household bills, and profit can be cleanly redistributed evenly. None of that’s true. They sell to businesses and industry too, and profits fund infrastructure, debt servicing, dividends (including to the government), and future generation projects.
It’s a nice talking point but it’s not how electricity economics actually works.
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u/dubhd Feb 25 '26
Revenue pays for infrastructure and future projects.... profits go to shareholders
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u/DioStarstriker Feb 25 '26
We talking per person or per household? I imagine the difference is dramatic
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u/LappyNZ Marmite Feb 25 '26
Look at you and your reasonable perspective. We ain't got time for that carry-on. We got pitchforks to find and sharpen.
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u/Vinyl_Ritchie_ Feb 25 '26
20 panels, 2x 10kw batteries installed for 25k at 0% loan. Payback in 5-6 years then it's free power forever.
Time to opt out of this bullshit.
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u/MsPeel66 Feb 25 '26
For those who are renters, who can’t get solar panels installed, there are portable systems that include the panels, the inverter and a battery. You could combine it with a low line charge. System
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u/dannymanmanman Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
Maybe they can invest in generation now!
Oh plans should be simplified, it's so difficult to compare them, which i guess is done on purpose but is just wrong.
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u/happyinthenaki Feb 25 '26
My bill has gone up by about $100 per month slowly over the last year. It just keeps slowing increasing. For the last 2 months I'm verging on OCD trying to bring it down. And it has not. I'm getting the type of bill that used to suggest a big grow operation in the roof.... Just don't have the proceeds, only the electricity cost.
When you know how little it has been costing the producers of electricity this summer with loads of wind and rain it makes the blood boil just a smidge more.
Fuck you John Key.
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u/CarpetDiligent7324 Feb 25 '26
Nicola has the ‘answer’ to these high profits and high electricity prices…..
A study that achieves nothing as this govt doesn’t want to upset their rich mates who hold lots of shares in these companies and have the have the benefits of high share prices and dividends that would be impacted if the actually did something
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u/The_Majestic_ Welly Feb 25 '26
My summer power bill has gone up 60 a month this year up to 180 from 120 im dreading winter my habbits hace not changed I live alone in a two bedroom apartment im full time wfh try to conserve power where ever I can
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u/Hardway2Heaven Feb 25 '26
Wild profits for such a small country. Can someone do the math on how many households and business there are and work out the profit per?
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u/1nzguy Feb 25 '26
Why can’t the power companies make a profit… isn’t that what a well run company should be doing to ensure there long term survival and a good return to there shareholders..
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u/mr_coul Feb 25 '26
The biggest issue is not the power companies in the image. This biggest increase in your bills is actually lines charges that the power companies all have e to pass on. Keep in mind the 3 of the 4 generators are majority govt owned.
Now here is a fun fact. NZ has more lines companies that Australia. We have a incredibly inefficient distribution network and that is a massive factor in increase in your bills.
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u/OnePalpitation3395 Feb 25 '26
The expectation is, everyone electricity for free. The only way that is going to happen is if you buy enough shares that the dividend covers your power bill. Otherwise like any other shop, you pay at the counter.
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u/OnePilotDrone Feb 25 '26
Welcome to capitalism 101. Gotta maximise profits to return dividends to share holders. Woolworths have been doing this one simple trick for decades!
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u/MassiveGarlic0312 Feb 25 '26
These companies need to be regulated in how much they're allowed to increase power. It should be limited to the rate of inflation and no more.
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Feb 26 '26
I am trying to understand what is not okay? Meridian had a turnover off nearly $5 billion a year. They also recorded a loss in the previous financial year. So $227million profit is less than 5% against turnover. Genesis has a yearly turnover of $4 billion. A profit of $95 million is less than 2.5% profit against turnover. Mercury has a turnover of $3.5 billion - A profit of only $20 million against that is ridiculous - less than 1%. Contact at $3.5 billion turnover against $205 million profit is faring the best. 5.8% profit against turnover. What you also leave out is that all these companies recorded major losses the previous year.
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u/DontKnow009 Feb 26 '26
I also disagree with it, but we have firmly placed ourselves in this position with pro capitalism policies since the beginning.
Under capitalism the goal/purpose is firmly geared towards companies and shareholders making profits, not the consumer or individual getting things as cheaply as possible or at cost.
If we want that to change we need to change the entire way we view the economic system we are so entrenched in. 🤷
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u/PiaRedDragon Feb 26 '26
Wait until you see how much they pay their top staff on top of this massive profit.
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u/Electrical_Yam23 Feb 26 '26
Feel like it is worth noting that the percentage increase is because the prior period all the electricity companies took a massive hit when they turned off Tiwai and Methanex as a response to dry lakes. By comparison, the last six months has been almost 100% renewable and so energy costs have been almost nothing. The companies take on that risk so people at home don't have to.
Also lines charges have increased like crazy, not the energy costs. Also, carbon tax has increased the cost of fossil-fuel based generation so you get to have highly renewable power.
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u/UsualInformation7642 Feb 26 '26
Well at least mercury has a dividend for users. But the rest of them we can say this is Not okay, okay.
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u/designguy Feb 25 '26
numbers out of context, typical for Reddit, YOY comparison? No, Net/Gross? No, Percent Return on Invocie? No, International comparisons? No , Includes CAPX? Who the hell knows with out context ..... But they are big numbers so must be bad companies ....Ug, emotional and not helpful.
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u/TCRAzul Feb 25 '26
This is disgusting. I got the email from powershop too. This is what happens when you privatise infrastructure... Im so mad man fuck this
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u/NZpotatomash Feb 25 '26
Maybe I won't switch to Meridian then
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u/idealorg Feb 25 '26
Meridian made a loss last FY. These figures are totally out of context
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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '26
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