Meridian has enough customers for now

By RICHARD BRADDELL

Meridian Energy, flush with 116,000 new customers courtesy of On Energy, has suspended marketing for more, pending integration of its expanded customer base.

Aside from the just completed On Energy deal, Meridian has added 46,000 customers since last November, taking the total to around 240,000.

Although the latest transaction goes a long way to filling an uncomfortable imbalance between generation and retail sales, Meridian remains the smallest retailer behind On Energy, TrustPower and Contact, despite accounting for 30 per cent of New Zealand's electricity production.

Meridian spokesman Alan Seay said marketing was likely to remain suspended until October, pending the replacement of Meridian's Christchurch call centre with a larger one.

Meridian suspended marketing from June to November last year to integrate its call centre and customer bases.