The Labour Party has said the latest consumer price index has shown the true increase in power prices. And it said the rise was much higher than the Minister of Energy, Simon Bridges, has claimed, based on another official survey.
According to the CPI, power prices rose by 4.2 percent in the last quarter.
That compares to a 2.3 percent increase in the latest quarterly survey of domestic electricity prices by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Labour's energy spokesperson David Shearer said the Government's figures were artificial.
"The Government's deliberately trying to say the power price increases aren't as large as they actually are, and its been caught out because the CPI shows peoples pockets really have been hit by power prices" he said.
But Energy Minister Simon Bridges said he was not trying to downplay rising power prices.
Mr Bridges said the difference was because the two systems measured different things. He said the CPI measured prices in 15 urban regions, while the ministry recorded them in 32 urban and rural areas.
