UPDATE: Contact earnings jump; "reasonable reduction" in long-term power prices expected

Mon, 11 Feb 2019

(Adds new content throughout.) By Gavin Evans Feb. 11 (BusinessDesk) - Higher gas and carbon prices are likely to underpin wholesale power prices but nevertheless longer-term electricity futures prices should fall, Contact Energy says. The company today reported a 28 percent jump in first-half operating earnings due to a surge in wholesale prices late last year when tight gas supplies coincided with declining hydro storage. While current spot power prices are roughly a third of those in late October, they remain relatively high. Ele...

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