cryptogon.com

Under one of the options being considered by the Electricity Authority for power grid transmission prices, some households in the Far North and West Coast could see yearly power bills rise by $200 to $250 a year.

Auckland prices could rise about $100 a year.

But in some areas including Wellington, power bills could fall about 2 per cent.

And for the Tiwai smelter, transmission costs could fall $50m a year which analysts said would mean the smelter was more likely to stay open, but Melhuish called it more “corporate welfare”.

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One option is “Application A” which would essentially double the transmission costs part of the bill for households on the West Coast and in the Far North.

There would be a smaller, 4.5 per cent lift for Auckland for customers of the Vector lines network and for other areas including the Kapiti Coast (Electra) and Marlborough Lines.

The Electricity Authority put its options paper out for consultation with interested groups on Tuesday, with a final proposal expected next year. Changes could come in by early 2018.

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“People will use less power, there will be more disease and more people will end up in hospital, (from cold homes),” Melhuish said.

There was also the risk that the industry would try to get rid of low fixed daily lines charges, which may rise from 33c a day to $2 a day, she said. Those charges were “coming under discussion” and such a move would mean an unavoidable cost that looked like a “tax”.

“You pay it, whatever”

But eventually people were likely to revolt from higher prices, and move off the national grid by using solar power panels and even batteries because they resented high power prices.