power prices
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Electric Kiwi says four big companies are selling wholesale power at a steep price, which means we're having to pay more to keep the lights on. It's no secret, our cost of living is high and power bills are part of that headache. In a recent email to its customers, power company Electric Kiwi passed on the blame for rising rates, saying it's having to pay record prices for wholesale electricity. It pointed to the big four generators - Mercury, Meridian, Contact and Genesis - saying they've increased the cost of wholesale power, even though they've doubled their net profits in the last year from $788 million to more than $1.5 billion.Those generators though say the hike in wholesale cost is because of the rising cost of thermal fuels like gas, coal or diesel and increasing carbon costs.But veteran electricity analyst Molly Melhuish has called that "profit-seeking" behaviour and that our funding model is broken. "We'll charge everything as the highest price on the system which these days is usually coal-fired generation."That means cheaper-to-produce power options like hydro or wind are priced the same as costlier generators, like coal. That's despite coal only making up roughly 7 percent of our electricity generation.Melhuish said there's little incentive to change. The Government owns 51 percent of three big power companies - Meridian, Genesis and Mercury and when they profit, so does the Government.She believed the companies are revenue-gathering now to help pay for future infrastructure needs to cope with the influx of electric cars.The Electricity Authority (EA) said it's looking into wholesale pricing to ensure the market is working in the best interests of consumers. But Melhuish said the sector needs an overhaul including the EA. "That means you'd have to have a real regulator, not just a fake regulator which the Electricity Authority is because it is governed by the very profit-seeking corporations that they're trying to regulate," said Melhuish. But there is one thing you can do to help reduce your bills and it's as simple as a click of a mouse button online and compare providers on Powerswitch."What we found is consumers on average are saving $385 by changing their electricity providers," said Powerswitch's Paul Fuge.
Poll: Should we ditch daylight saving? 🕰️
First introduced in New Zealand in 1927 with the passing of the Summer Time Act, it's what we know as 'Daylight Saving' and this year it ends on the first Sunday in April.
While we do get to sleep in this time around, some people would like to scrap the clock tinkering for good.
And why? Some evidence suggests the time changes are bad for our health as they mess with sleep patterns leading to short-term fatigue and affecting mood. Meanwhile the hour change is frustrating for farmers and a nightmare for getting the littlies to sleep. But what's your take?
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41% Yes - get rid of the clock changes
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57.2% No, I enjoy it
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1.8% Other - I'll share below
TRUMP AND TRENTHAM
Years ago when Neighbourly use to be a social media discussion outlet, I wrote a few items concerning Trump and got a stopper response from some people along the lines of what has Trump got to do with Trentham, Hutt Valley, Wellington or New Zealand.
Well let's forget about past years since 2015 and concentrate on this year.
Tariffs - people in Trentham and nearby Martinborough who are connected with the wine industry got especially annoyed about having to find new markets in the world and avoid the USA with Trump having unreasonably impose higher tariffs on NZ exports. Of course an about turn cannot be done instantly and some wine exporters here took a tumble.
War - the Trump war with Iran is affecting locals enormously already. Almost everything is expected to go up in price. Our military might yet be involved and just maybe activity at the Trentham Military Camp is on the increase.
Fuel - The NZ Govt is setting itself up to keep the price of petrol and diesel down to a level below unaffordable for the average bloke and blokess. But options remain open for carless days and working from home where possible working weeks. Despite the detractors like retailers and hospitality people in Wellington, working from home will save a huge amount of vehicle fuel. Our public transport services could not cope with severe carless days.
Online Purchases and Freight - big increases in cost of goods from overseas and the cost of air and sea freight charges.
Emigration - NZ and the Wellington region are prime targets for foreigners wanting to come and live here as we are the safest country of size in the world and the world of Trump and his USA are making the world much more at risk and uncertain. Look out for a new wave of housing demand here.
Don't overthink this riddle...
I have a silver sole
but no feet,
I make my living by bringing the heat.
What am I?
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