Flick Energy reports 'worst sustained prices'

Wholesale power company Flick Energy has reported having "the worst, sustained prices" it has seen since the company started, with users getting billed close to 50 per cent more. Photo / File

Wholesale power company Flick Energy has reported having "the worst, sustained prices" since it started, with users getting billed close to 50 per cent more.

The company has sent emails to its customers informing them of the very high prices it had been charging this month.

"We're not going to lie, these were the worst, sustained prices we'd seen since we started Flick three years ago. And we know this week's bills are going to sting," the July 25 email says.

The company attributed this to the dry winter period.

"History tells us that dry winter price conditions happen once every four or five years and last between three and eight weeks."

With last week's wet weather the price came down 12 cents per kilowatt.

"We are now in week six of dry winter and with more rain and snow down south and hydro storage increasing (back up at 65 per cent of average, from 59 per cent), we believe prices are starting to turn a corner."

One west Auckland user, part of a family of four, had a bill of $119.73 for the week to July 16.

The average Flick user that week was paying 48 per cent more than usual.

However, the company said that the customer had saved about $850 since joining Flick about two years ago.

"By comparison, over the past six weeks you've paid just $34.67 more than you would have paid with your previous supplier, or the biggest supplier in your area," the email says.

Flick Electric chief executive Steve O'Connor said the company is expecting more rain in the hydro lakes in the coming weeks which should ease the price.

O'Connor admitted that customers were leaving the provider, with some unable to cover the short-term cost of the price hike.

"We understand when people need to go," he said. Though some customers had said they will re-sign with Flick when conditions improve.

O'Connor also stressed that the lake drought has coincided with major cold fronts which saw customers using much more power than usual.

In the end, O'Connor said, customers saved money in the long-term on Flick and those with long-term thinking and better cashflow remained loyal to the company.