Bradford Welcomes Power Price Index Publication

Enterprise and Commerce Minister Max Bradford has welcomed the weekly publication of a power price index in The New Zealand Herald that provides valuable information for consumers.

The M-co Reuters Electricity Price Index measures the wholesale price of electricity averaged across the country.

Its publication allows consumers to monitor how much electricity retailing companies pay generators for surplus electricity and to compare this with how much consumers are then charged.

The index has been offered to media outlets free of charge by M-co, the company which runs New Zealand's wholesale electricity market.

The index has been published in The Independent Business Weekly newspaper and is soon to be published in two more large metropolitan newspapers.

Mr Bradford said it was vital consumers received good quality information on which to base their decision of which retailer to buy electricity from.

Consumers should shop around to find suppliers that offered the best deal, Mr Bradford said.

"We would encourage that and we are investigating other ways in which better quality information can be provided to consumers. Consumers need to be aware of all their options," he said.