Why are my prices going?

Firstly, we get that nobody likes to hear their prices are changing – and we don’t make the decision to put our prices up lightly.

The price of electricity is made up of a few different components which include: the cost of providing the electricity, the cost of transporting it across NZ and to your address, as well as our business operating costs and government levies and taxes, such as GST. Many of these costs have changed since we last reviewed them.

Here's some handy info to help break it all down.

Why is the Low-User Daily Charge changing?

With a view to making things fairer for all Kiwis, a Government review of the electricity industry has meant changes to the plans power companies offer. See full details on the MBIE website.

As a result, the low-user fixed charge plan is being gradually phased out for all energy retailers and the low-user daily charge is stepping up each year until 2027. See more details here.

How do you calculate my rates?

Your electricity pricing is broken down into two components – a daily fixed charge and a variable charge.

Daily fixed charge: a set daily amount, shown on your bill as cents per day, that covers the fixed costs of supplying power to your property;

Variable charge: a per-kilowatt hour charge for the amount of electricity you use.

The level of these charges depends on your energy user profile, and for variable charges, on the type of meter you have.

Why do the rates in the table in my email/letter exclude GST?

The prices you’ll see on your bill are all excluding GST. We’ve excluded GST in the price change communication we’ve sent you, so you can compare it with what appears on the back of your bill.

In some areas the daily fixed charge is increasing but the variable charge is decreasing, what does this mean for my bill?

Due to your daily fixed and variable rates changing, you can review your bill after 1st March 2025 to see what the impact is, as this is based on your individual consumption habits.

Do you have any tips to help me reduce my power usage?

Check out our helpful tips here.