Dry spell 'part of doing business in New Zealand'

Wednesday, 21 February 2018

Meridian was able to generate less renewable power in the most recent half-year, due to lower lake levels.

Meridian Energy has blamed low levels of rainfall for a drop in its first-half earnings.

It reported a 7 per cent fall in first-half earnings for the financial year.

Profit fell 13 percent to $109 million.

Chief executive Neal Barclay said fluctuations in hydrolake levels were part of doing business in New Zealand.

He said, while the last 12 months had less rain than normal, it was not at record low levels and power supplies had never been threatened.

More innovation in the sector was prompting customers to look at what was available, he said, but most wanted the 'set and forget' model of traditional retailers.

Meridian-owned Powershop was having success with its Get Shifty offer, which allows customers to access better prices if they use power during off-peak periods.

Barclay said he was happy with the result, although Meridian never enjoyed periods where there was not enough water in the lakes and it had to buy power from the market.

'I think we've managed it as well as we could do.'

Churn was sitting at about 20 per cent, he said. 'That's reflective of the fact we're in a competitive market with low barriers to shifting. If you don't have your pricing proposition and customer service model right people shift away.'

Meridian is offering Powershop in Australia, to good response. 'For Australia, Powershop is quite unique,' Barclay said.

It now has more than 100,000 Australian customers.

'We have also secured three hydro stations in New South Wales and signed a further three power purchase agreements to ensure that we can continue to support Powershop growth in Australia. We're finding there is a strong and growing desire from Australian electricity consumers to support a 'green' energy retailer,' Barclay said.

Meridian also wanted to support New Zealanders making the most of the country's availability of renewable energy.

'We're pleased to announce the launch of Meridian's nationwide electric car plan which gives our customers with an electric car a 20 per cent discount off their electricity bill. We're encouraging our customers to embrace sustainable technology so we're also going to cover the cost of charging their electric car for a year.'