Electricity isn't just expensive

[Lilith7]

It can harm our health. Interesting article - quite a lot of us now have difficulty in affording electricity & the writer (clearly a commie/lefti/hippie) suggests that we need to put people over profits!
No doubt sufficient to give Roger Douglas & his mates conniptions should they happen to read this article. But they'll recover quickly because like almost everyone else reading this they know its never going to happen.


https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/...010101_1_1


"The electricity market, an essential service for upholding human rights, is in fact harming the health of New Zealanders and will cost the public health system, writes Dr Kimberley O’Sullivan

Comment: Over the past month, electricity retailers have announced huge profit increases, at a time when the cost of living is putting additional stress on household finances. Our electricity market is made up of different elements; starting with companies that generate electricity and sell it to the wholesale market, others that then carry the electricity through the lines, some that own the meters that measure how much is coming into our homes, and the ones we know best – retail companies that households have contracts with to pay for all of this.

The thinking behind deregulation and arranging our electricity system like this was that it would create a market where people would actively search for the best deal and switch between electricity retailers who would compete to offer the cheapest and best service for electricity.

But in practice, this idea hasn’t worked well for keeping everyday electricity prices low for households, instead residential prices have continued to rise.




Firstly, people don’t tend to switch electricity companies very often – around half of New Zealanders haven’t switched for at least five years.

People experiencing energy hardship – when households can’t afford or access enough household energy to meet their needs – are often not able to switch because they have a payment plan, debt to their company, or use a prepay meter which costs more.

Secondly, our four largest electricity companies both generate and retail electricity and have a large share of the market: around 85 percent of households buy their power from these companies.




Thirdly, it’s difficult for new retailers to start up because of the large costs involved in purchasing electricity to sell to households from the wholesale market.

The result? The four biggest electricity generator/retailers or ‘gentailers’ have just announced large profit increases at the same time new information shows households are increasingly struggling to pay their power bills.

Mercury reported earnings of $841m over the past year – up 45 percent from 2022, followed closely by Meridian earning $783m (up 10 percent), while Genesis earned $573m (up 5 percent), and Contact increased its profits by 19 percent, reporting earnings of $523.5m. 

Similar to its previous survey, 42 percent of households say it is harder to pay than it was a year ago and the same number have experienced financial pressure in relation to their electricity bills.

Their results show that families, larger households, and lower income households are even more likely to experience financial pressure.

Concerningly, over half of people (58 percent and 56 percent, respectively) who are medically dependent on electricity to support their health at home, for example because they use a home dialysis or oxygen machine, are finding it harder to pay or are experiencing financial pressure due to the cost of electricity.
In its June 2023 survey of residential consumers, the Consumer Advocacy Council found that 65 percent of households are concerned about electricity costs, up from 58 percent last year.

The result of allowing an electricity market that prevents people from being able to afford to heat their homes (not helped by our comparatively poor housing quality) is that on top of the stress and illness these people experience, we see excess hospital admissions we all collectively pay for through our public health system.

It has been calculated that cold homes account for 1834 hospital nights, and dampness and mould for 36,649, per year in Aotearoa, costing us an annual $141m in public sector health costs.

What can we do?

To ensure no one is forced to make impossible choices between heating and eating, we need to put people over profits."