Power prices up from October

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 500, 24 August 1993, Page 2

Power prices up from October

King Country Energy's domestic customers will be paying, on average, a further 14 cents per day for their electricity after 1 October. King Country Energy will increase both domestic line and energy charges on this date, while for non-domestic customers only the line charges will increase. The increases will produce a five per cent revenue rise overall for King Country Energy, with domestic customers paying on average 7.3 per cent more for their energy and 9.5 per cent more in line charges. The price rises are in line with those of the past two years, when King Country Energy began a gradual removal of the subsidies paid by non-do-mestic customers towards the cost of supplying domestic customers. The removal of subsidies between domestic and non-domestic customers is seen as being critical to King Country Energy's

survival in the newly deregulated electricity industry. King Country Energy customers still enjoy some of the lowest tariffs in the country in spite of the increase, but the effects of competition can already be seen by the more aggressive pricing for non-domestic customers by other energy companies. The company is expecting an increase in the bulk electricity supply costs from ECNZ and it also faces greatly increased insurance premiums as a direct result of being turned into a company. Other price rises met by the company are slightly higher than the general inflation rate of two per cent. King Country Energy has also been aggressively carrying out modifications to its network and generation systems, as quickly as cash-flow allows, to improve supply reliability. Profits eamed last year have been re-invested in

up-grades for the Kuratau Power Station and a new ripple control system.