Eastland Network, which is part of the ECT-owned Eastland Group of companies, today announced its pricing schedule for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018. This covers all customers in Gisborne, the East Coast and Wairoa.
A small increase in line charges is likely to add about $4.30 including GST to an average household’s monthly bill. The amount is made up of around $3.25 towards Eastland Network’s distribution line charges, and approximately $1.05 for Transpower’s increased transmission charges.
Eastland Network’s tariff structure has not been altered, and remains the same as last year.
As part of New Zealand’s regulated electricity sector, any change in Eastland Network’s revenue must comply with the Commerce Commission’s Default Price-Quality Path Determination requirements.
The network pricing is reviewed annually, and the pricing model that determines the components making up individual tariff categories has been updated. It factors in a wide number of considerations, including: meeting compliance requirements; taking into account forecasted distributed energy volumes; reviewing advised contract charges; and other costs.
“Over the past 12 months, the region’s electricity usage has remained steady, with a warm winter and energy-saving appliances keeping customer demand at a similar level to a year ago,” says Eastland Network general manager Brent Stewart. “We expect this to continue for the next year.”
“The major power outage at the end of last year, and the cost of repairing the transmission lines, are not a factor in the new pricing. All those costs have been covered within the standard Network budget set aside for maintenance and repairs.”
Eastland Network’s line charge revenue for the 2017-2018 financial year is forecast at $36.45 million.
More information is available at www.eastland.nz.
ENDS
BACKGROUND
Eastland Network provides electricity to 19,406 domestic consumers and 6,053 non-domestic consumers in the Gisborne, East Coast, Wairoa and Tuai areas. It bills line charges to the end-user’s energy retailer, which then incorporates them into each customer’s power bill. Line charges make up around 40 percent of consumer electricity costs. The remaining approximate 60 percent of costs are determined by energy retailers.