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Government s winter energy payment not enough some say
28 Apr, 2021 09:23 PM
5 minutes to read
lderly people are already working out what to give up over winter so they can afford their power bills, according to Central Otago Grey Power. File photo Photo / 123RF
lderly people are already working out what to give up over winter so they can afford their power bills, according to Central Otago Grey Power. File photo Photo / 123RF
RNZ
By Sarah Robson of RNZ
The government s winter energy payment for beneficiaries and pensioners kicks in on Saturday, but some say it doesn t go far enough to cover the rising cost of heating a home.
The government s winter energy payment for beneficiaries and pensioners kicks in on Saturday, but some say it doesn t go far enough to cover the rising cost of heating a home.
Elderly people are already working out what to give up over winter so they can afford their power bills, according to Central Otago Grey Power. File photo
Photo: 123RF
That means people on low incomes are already apprehensive about how they will juggle their budgets.
Grey Power Central Otago president Margaret Hill says older locals are already working out what to give up so they can pay their power bills over winter.
But dry weather, gas shortages, and a long spell of relatively low investment in new generation have combined to send spot market prices soaring above 30 cents a kilowatt-hour for much of this year. Spot market prices have been reflected in steep rises in electricity futures prices, which are threatening to flow though into broader price rises for small businesses and consumers. The proportion of electricity generated by renewables has slipped below 80 per cent as the Huntly Power Station burns more coal to keep the lights on. Woods acknowledged the share of electricity produced by renewables would have fallen in both 2019 and 2020 but said it was too soon to say if it would fall for a third consecutive year, this year