People who live further from areas where power is generated pay more for their electricity.

You could be paying hundreds of dollars more for your power, just because of your address.

How good a deal you get on your power bill depends on where in the country you live.

A comparison using Consumer NZ's Powerswitch data shows a family of four could pay $600 a year more if they lived in the Far North than if they lived in Wellington, assuming they took the cheapest deal on offer in each area.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment data confirms Kerikeri, Balclutha and Westport have the country's highest power bills.

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Carl Hansen, chief executive of the Electricity Authority, said the difference was driven by lines company charges.

There are 29 lines companies throughout the country that set their own pricing.

"Lines companies face different costs depending on the area they serve, for example the cost per customer of supplying electricity in a remote or mountainous part of New Zealand could be higher than in an urban area with lots of customers and flat terrain," Hansen said.

Richard Gordon, of Genesis Energy, said Northland and Wairarapa tended to be expensive because there was little power generation there.

"In the most simple terms, the further away you live from power stations the more you will pay as the energy has travelled furthest from the station to your property."

Gordon said another factor was how many people were connected to local lines.

"A higher population means more people are sharing the cost of the lines. A rural area or low population area means the same cost is shared by fewer consumers. Rural networks don't charge rural customers more than town customers so the cost is shared across the network. Finally the market is super competitive right now and energy retailers are targeting different regions with special deals. That is accounting for some regional difference."

He said Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington would be expected to have the best deals because they had the most competition and the most power users.

Huia Burt, programme director at Electric Kiwi, said network charges had increased year-on-year but her company was one that was not passing them on to customers.

Sue Chetwin, of Consumer NZ, said it was unfair for people who had limited access to competition in their areas. "For people who have a number of retailers, they should shop around but some people in difficult areas only have one retailer who wants to deal with their lines company. It puts them in a difficult position."

How much would a family of four, with one person home during the day, using electricity for heating and cooking in an insulated house pay per year?

Far North: $2614 (Energy Online)

Central Auckland: $2112 (Pulse Energy)

Taupo: $2510 (Flick)

Tauranga: $2153 (Flick)

Hawke's Bay: $2267 (Energy Online)

New Plymouth: $2133 (Nova)

Wellington City: $2011 (Paua to the People)

Christchurch: $2353 ( Flick)

Dunedin: $2246 (Flick)