Being cold and rationing heating is now 'normal' in New Zealand
More households than not now ration heating at home thanks to high power prices.
Turning off the heating and going cold in winter is now a majority sport in New Zealand.
Just over half of New Zealand households cut back on heating their homes in winter due to the cost, a survey of nearly 1300 householders by Credit Simple found.
In Auckland 55 per cent of households go cold in a bid to save in the power bills. In Wellington, it's 52 per cent. In Canterbury, it's 50 per cent.
Robert Digby, a middle-income homeowner, has to ration heating to keep the power bill affordable.
So pricey is our electricity, that Kiwi households pay more for it than Norwegians, whose average wages are a third higher than ours.
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"It doesn't feel right that New Zealanders are paying more to heat their homes than people in Norway, where snow covers the ground at least three months of the year," said credit agency-owned business CreditSimple chief executive David Scognamiglio.
Robert Digby from Lower Hutt is one of the squeezed middle-income earners who has to go cold to economise.
He's a homeowner, and both he and his wife work full time, but still, when winter comes around he's reaching for the off switch.
"Sometimes my family, we just don't put on the heater," he said.
Cold, damp houses are the culprit for New Zealand's high rates of certain childhood respiratory diseases.
The three children's rooms get heated on cold nights. Like many parents, Digby and his wife put themselves second.
"We don't put the heater on our room. We just load on piles of duvets," he said.
"Without power, you have got problems with lower income families. You have got lots of children getting sick," he said.
But it's not just the lower income families any more. Digby admits taking time off work for sick kids himself.
Last year, the International Energy Authority reported New Zealand households had some of the world's highest power prices.
Energy minister Megan Woods cited the figure when she announced a review into electricity prices in March.
Energy Minister Megan Woods has ordered a review of why electricity prices have gone up so much for households.
"Residential electricity prices have risen by around 50 per cent since 2000 but the price for business remained flat. We want to find out why that is," Woods said when she announced the review.
High power prices have driven Kiwi households to become more frequent switchers, moving from power company to power company seeking cheaper deals.
A record number of New Zealanders switched electricity companies in 2017, the Electricity Authority said.
More than 440,000 switches between electricity companies were made last year, up from 417,642 switches in 2015.
Electricity engineer Bryan Leyland, currently in Africa working on rehabilitating ageing dams, describes himself as "poison to the system" after his repeated criticisms of the electricity generation and retail market which had led to excessive price rises.
"It needs a comprehensive review of all aspects of the electricity system, starting with the market itself," Leyland said.
Credit Simple conducted the survey of more than 1200 people as part of a move to develop a new line of business.
It intends to become a major marketer of power deals, using its buying muscle to source deals for its 470,000 members.
Its members are people who have signed up to Credit Simple to check their credit reports and scores for free, agreeing to allow Credit Simple to market services to them, such as special deals on power, and personal loans.
- Stuff
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