The chief executive of this country’s second largest electricity lines company has also accused electricity retailers of “hiding” the true costs of the various components that make up a domestic power bill.

"Government is now regulating to force retailers to offer low fixed charges to domestic customers, which has resulted in lines companies being unfairly captured in the proposed regulatory legislation when they were already fully complying on a voluntary basis," says New Plymouth-based Boulton.

"At the moment, retailers are hiding the true costs, and the areas where cost increases have come from, behind confusing repackaging of the costs in the power bill. This is resulting in customers being misguided.

"For example, many consumers assume that the fixed daily charge on their electricity bill is the lines charge when, in fact, it includes additional charges from the retailer.”

Boulton is the latest in a string of politicians and energy executives to criticise Energy Minister Pete Hodgson’s announcement last week that from October the fixed charge tariff component of power prices will be regulated to 30 cents a day for domestic customers using 8000 kWh or less a year.

Hodgson also accused some retailers of “playing games’ around offering a low fixed-price tariff.

Boulton says retailers are routinely sending power bills that confuse customers as to where costs are actually being incurred.

"Over the last five years the vast majority of electricity price increases have been driven by retailers. Lines companies are not responsible, but retailers often blame them for their own increases, or camouflage their increases in the structure of the customer’s bill."

Over the past five years average retail prices had increased by 16.7%, while lines charges decreased by 0.9%, across all North Island areas in which Powerco operated. Over this time the generation and retail component of power bills had increased from 49% to 57%, while the line component has decreased from 51% to 43%.

"Retailers need to be held accountable for these price increases instead of trying to move blame onto others in the sector. Powerco would fully support the government in requiring retailers to fully itemise their bills as part of moves to regulate the retail sector," Boulton concluded.