Nova and Mercury put up power charges slightly in Northland

Nova and Mercury customers in Northland have had a small rise in power charges. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Thousands of Northland power users are facing a small increase in electricity costs as two retailers increase their charges, blaming it on a smaller price rise on the wholesale market.

Mercury has limited the average price rise to about 2 per cent or about $2 a month, but Nova has increased it by about 6 per cent which equates to about $2.30 extra per week.
Nova has about 2500 customers in Northland.

The increase in price for Mercury, which has about 16,000 customers in the region, will affect less than 700 commercial customers on non-fixed price agreements.

A spokeswoman said residential customers won't be affected.

"We have obligations to pass through lines changes to all business customers as part of our terms and conditions. So, it makes sense that any energy price change (for those not on fixed energy price agreements) would be captured at the same time so these customers aren't getting multiple changes to their pricing which is messy and not a great experience.

"It's slightly different for residential customers in that we don't have that same obligation. That's meant that on some networks we have been absorbing price changes for as long as commercially possible. That's why residential customers in Northland haven't seen a change yet."