Meridian opts for power deal choice

Meridian Energy has backed down on its plan to force its biggest customers onto the volatile spot market for electricity.

The state-owned electricity generator and retailer had told its big commercial power users that they could not buy power from it at a fixed price.

Many customers, particularly in the Canterbury region, complained that this was unfair. It meant they ran the risk of wholesale power prices soaring during winter, or went to another company.

Meridian retail director Grenville Gaskell said the company originally thought it could not offer competitive fixed prices.

It now realised that customers wanted a choice and that many wanted the certainty of a fixed price.

Meridian will now, like its rivals, offer a choice of a fixed price, a spot market deal or a mixture of the two.