Rain gain for power companies

Lower wholesale power prices over the past year have helped the country’s big power companies.

Mercury and Genesis Energy have reported their financial results for the year. Genesis is the biggest retail brand in New Zealand and Mercury is the thirdlargest, by customer numbers.

The two were quite different: While Mercury reported a record profit of $184 million in the year to June 30, up $30m on the year before, Genesis said its profit was down 36 per cent to $119m.

But both said wholesale prices – which retailers pay for the power they then sell to their customers – had helped during the year.

While some providers, such as Powershop, Paua to the People and Flick, pass on movements in wholesale rates, customers with traditional retailers lock in a price they pay regardless of what the underlying price is doing.

Mercury chief executive Fraser Whineray said the company’s result had been boosted by a lot of rainfall through the year.

Wholesale prices were low through much of the past financial year, although they spiked in May as lake levels fell.

He said the record profit would not affect customer prices.

‘‘If it was a dry year that would impact our earning for our owners but then we don’t necessarily say that means our retail customers have to pay more. We tend not to bother our end users with that volatility.’’

Genesis said its result was ahead of guidance during a period of change.

‘‘In the retail customer area of our business, the implementation of new technologies has resulted in call volumes falling and self-service transactions increasing,’’ said chief executive Marc England.

‘‘Our agile workplace culture is working to redefine products and experiences for our customers, building on our position as the only company that can offer its customers bottled LPG, natural gas, and electricity on one billing platform.’’