Local Focus: Power bill cuts for Napier, Hastings, Rotorua and Taupō

Lower power bills are coming for Napier, Hasting, Taupō and Rotorua.

Unison, which owns the lines that deliver electricity, has lowered its charges to electricity retailers from April 1.

Unison General Manager Business Assurance Nathan Strong said a residential customer in Hawke's Bay would the network part of their bill drop by about 13 per cent.

Unison's network charge made up about half a typical residential electricity bill, so a Hawke's Bay customer that used 8,000 kWh with controlled hot water heating would see a reduction of $135 per year, or abound $11 per month.

A customer in Taupō or Rotorua that used 8,000 kWh with controlled hot water heating would see a reduction of $124 per year, or about $10 per month.

Strong said electricity retailers indicated the saving would be passed on to customers, but if not there were options for consumers.

"We've heard from a few retailers around what they are intending to do around our price reductions and hearing favourable positions on that," he said.

"We are expecting to see them pass that through full to consumers.

"But we would always encourage people to shop around.

"There is a great website that is provided by Consumer New Zealand - www.powerswitch.org.nz.

"People can go on there, put in details about their usage and find out what's the best retail deal available to them."

The price reduction, mandated by the Commerce Commission to reflect Unison's lower costs of borrowing, is good timing. Winter is coming and with the COVID–19 lockdown, people are using more electricity at home.

Unison is the fifth-largest electricity network, supplying over 110,000 customers across Hawke's Bay, Rotorua and Taupo.

It is owned by the Hawke's Bay Power Consumers Trust on behalf of electricity account holders in Napier and Hastings, who receive an annual dividend payment.

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