Transparency of power price increases to help prevent ‘price shock’

The Commerce Commission’s recent review of the revenue limits for Transpower and most local lines companies has indicated that household electricity bills will increase by about $10 a month, on average, from April 2025. In response, the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is using its monitoring powers to request information from electricity retailers about their expected retail price increases to better understand, monitor and communicate the impact on consumers across regions. 

The Authority’s Acting General Manager Retail and Consumer Daniel Griffiths says: “This is an important step towards increased transparency and monitoring of planned price increases to help prevent consumer price shock.” 

“Our aim is to better understand the impact of increased distribution and transmission charges on consumers and ensure they are communicated in a clear and timely fashion. We also want to understand if retailers in regions with higher increases are taking any action to mitigate the impact on consumers, as we know that some regions will see more than a $10 a month rise. Monitoring this information will enable us to assess outcomes for consumers and support consistency in pricing communication strategies across the regions.”

The Authority is using its powers under section 46 of the Electricity Industry Act 2010 to request that retailers with more than 1,000 connections provide:

• details of any planned retail price increases between now and 30 June including by region and pricing component
• monthly updates on actual price increases from March to August 2025
• information about when and how they plan to communicate these price changes to consumers
• any plans to mitigate price shocks in regions with projected increases above the national average.

Retailers with multiple trading brands must report data separately for each brand.

The Electricity Authority will handle all commercially sensitive information securely and consult retailers before releasing any information.