Maungaraki Reporters

Being stuck in our own house for ages hasn’t been easy for some. As most people expected, Power usage throughout New Zealand households has increased. Many families, or individuals should expect their power bill to increase by about $3 - $6 per week; but in some areas the power consumption has decreased, here's why. 

There are many factors on why individual households are using more power and many businesses are using LESS. Businesses are still not operating properly at the moment and have staff working from home. This is something that will increase your personal power bill. Not only this but staying home more often will result in more usage of: wifi, television, lights and other power draining equipment, this is another thing that will increase your power bill. 

During the time of Level 4 Lockdown in New Zealand, all non-essential businesses were closed. Due to this, demand for electricity seemed to have dropped 10% according to the national grid operator. But even though our country is slowly easing back into the normal life, only places like takeaway stores and few hardware stores are starting to reopen. This still means a low level of power usage in many businesses. In conclusion, while power consumption has dropped overall, personal households power consumption has generally increased.