SOE’s plans will hurt households

Gerry Brownlee - National Energy Spokesperson

“Thousands of householders will be worse off if New Zealand’s largest electricity retailer, State-owned electricity company Genesis, is allowed to buy the Natural Gas Corporation’s customers and assets,” says National’s Energy spokesman Gerry Brownlee.

“Many people opt for gas as a competitive option to electricity. If Genesis, which already has the largest number of electricity customers in the country (26% or 450,000 customers) buys up NGC’s gas customers, then many thousands of people will lose that choice.

Genesis, which is also New Zealand’s third largest electricity generator, is seeking Commerce Commission approval to buy NGC’s 94,000 customers in Auckland and Wellington.

“Power prices are going to go up - there’s no doubt about that. Households are already stuck between a rock and a hard place now because the Government-owned companies dominate electricity generation and retailing.

“If electricity generators pick up the gas customers too, the situation will become even worse,” Mr Brownlee said.

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