Can bulk-buying give electricity users market power?

The cost of electricity for households has been news in New Zealand lately, as the cost to households continues to rise, while industrial and commercial consumers have seen little change. Its news in Queensland at the moment too; households there are facing a 22.6% increase in prices from this July. The Queensland “One Big Switch” bulk buying proposal explained in the video seems to be remarkably like the NZ Power proposal the Labour-Green opposition outlined few weeks ago, but on a smaller scale. “One Big Switch” is looking to sign up 25,000 consumers to bulk buy power in order to get lower prices. It will be interesting to see how it goes.