Electricity Prices : NZ vs N. America

[Super_BQ]

From an article I just received: https://www.bchydro.com/news/conserv...=c-16-02_rates

"That's a far cry from most other places in North America in the Hydro Quebec study, where most of the other average monthly bills are above $150. In fact, bills in Boston, Massachusetts are three times as expensive as British Columbia, coming in at a whopping $300 per month. Bills are also big in the Big Apple; monthly costs in New York City are $289."


There's a misconception that living in NZ, while having a temperate climate compared to Canada & US, means little cost to paying electricity here. The sad fact is that when NZ prices are like 3 x time the cost of most places in Canada means the AMOUNT you pay usually works out the same. Cold places in Canada will result in homes using 3 times more electricity than a typical home in NZ in winter months. There really is not difference.

For NZ homes of similar size to American, winter month electricity costs are well over $500/month. Close friend 1 time paid nearly $1000 a month here in Christchurch for his 2 story home.

[Fern49]

Could it have anything to do with supply and demand as it does with most wholesale/retail buying. Population wise there is no comparison.

[Super_BQ]

Could it have anything to do with supply and demand as it does with most wholesale/retail buying. Population wise there is no comparison.

The NZ electricity market is quite different to N. American suppliers. For eg. in BC, Canada the electrical generation is state gov't owned and continues to be state owned right up to selling to the end consumer. There is no middle man handling like we see in NZ taking a profit (ie electricity retailers). Therefore the gov't can bring lower electricity prices straight to the consumer. So when you have a different make up of electrical supply and distribution, the issue of supply and demand makes it incomparable.

Population wise, BC, Canada has similar population to all of NZ and similar electrical generation (predominantly hydro electric). The price difference has more to do with "what people are willing to pay for". A $500/month winter heating bill for a large affluent house in NZ is comparable to a house in BC, Canada - the only difference is because of the constant sub-zero climate, houses would require x 3 times more energy to heat which nets around the same costing as here in NZ.

Even with cheaper solar PV electric panels coming on the market, the NZ electric market re-adjusts to these factors. Now the retailers are paying LESS for kW/hr generation from residential homes than in previous years to the point that going off-grid doesn't make sense.

[jawnbc]

It is because the National government set up a bogus "private" electricity system, including a couple of companies that have piles of carbon-based electricity generators. Which are not required to meet capacity, but they don't want to write off the coal and natural gas (and infrastructure).

There is no shortage of capacity and it could be over 95% fossil fuel free. And also cheaper. It's a totally false, bogus pricing structure. Oh and a make work scheme for National party hacks: they control the boards of most of them.

I pay 10x what I did in British Columbia, even though the generation methods aren't that different.

[Super_BQ]

It is because the National government set up a bogus "private" electricity system,

So TRUE! that in recent years the gov't has spun off near 1/2 share ownership of these electrical companies to the public that if these companies go bankrupt, the NZ gov't won't have to bear the full cost. The whole electrical scheme from generation to delivery is inefficient.

There is no shortage of capacity and it could be over 95% fossil fuel free.

The capacity can easily come from more installations of solar PV and solar hot water panels. If the aluminium plant at Tiwai Point shuts down, this would bring a big boost in capacity.

Fuel pump prices havn't come down much in relations to the barrel of oil. So when oil rebounds back to $100, would we see $4/litre? A bigger boost in the electric car market?

[servantnimai]

What would one pay for 1kwh of electricity?

[Super_BQ]

Ranges between 27 to 33 cents (includes 15% GST). Then the daily line connection charge varies a lot between 0.70 to $1.50 per day