With increasing Power Prices, low power users need to shop around for the cheapest power companies in NZ. The savings can be massive.
2022 has seen the beginning of the phase out of the Low Power User Plans in New Zealand. Some NZ Power Companies have already phased them out, however some don't have any plans to phase them out at the moment. The people most affected by this phase out are those whose power consumption is very low. Consumer New Zealand expect that 40% of New Zealand households will end up paying more for power as a direct result of this phasing out of low user plans
It seems to be an ironic move to phase out these low power user plans, as we should be encouraging more people to save power, and consume less. Low power plans do encourage people to use less power, due to these plans usually having a higher unit rate, but they usually have a low fixed daily rate. Encouraging people to reduce their power usage should therefore encourage people to buy more energy efficient household appliances and fittings, such as LED light bulbs and fridges. Reducing power usage also reduces the need for New Zealand to build more power generation, which takes a long time to plan for and build. It is also very expensive to build and maintain.
From 2022 power companies are allowed to double the fixed daily rate from 34.5 cents (inc GST) per day, to 69 cents (inc GST) per day. They are allowed to increase the daily fixed rate by 34.5 cents (inc GST) for the next five years. The unit charge NZ Power Companies charge may however drop slightly to compensate for this fixed daily price rise. However as the unit rate usually increase over time anyway, the unit rate savings may not be very much.
Many of the low power users are those people who can least afford these large rises. Many are on low incomes, including the elderly. Many of who are on fixed incomes, and will who find it difficult to absorb the extra costs on top of other rising costs including food, fuel and general consumer goods. It will also likely lead to New Zealands very high inflation increasing even more.
Some Power Companies have not yet increased their Low User Daily Rates.
The good thing is that there are still power companies that haven't increased their low user daily fixed rate...at least not yet. So low power users maybe able to save a lot by simply switching power companies. Low power users however should check their current contract and rates with their existing power company to make sure there are no penalties in switching. Some power users will be on fixed contracts, and power companies may charge a fee for breaking the contract.
We switched to a Power Company that still has Low Daily Rates and have saved money.
After our power company decided to increase their daily rate and pass this onto their customers, we had no choice but to change power providers, or face a larger bill. As we don't use much electricity and have very energy efficient fixtures and appliances, the increased daily charge made their prices significantly more expensive than other providers.
Our research showed that several other electricity providers hadn't increased their daily rate. So we made the switch to one of these. We also benefited from some free credit by using a friends referral code. A NZ Power Company Referral Codes / Promo Codes which our friends can use are below.
The switch power occurred within just a few days. We were expecting it to take several weeks and to be contacted about it before the switch occurred. But it occurred automatically and within just 3 days it had completely switched with no interruption to services. Long gone are the old days when it used to take months for a switch to occur.
How can I easily find the Cheapest NZ Power Companies?
We would suggest that everyone regularly checks their current power rates and see what the competition are offering. We would recommend doing this at least once a year as the savings can be massive. You can compare different power company prices by using Consumer NZs PowerSwitch website. Please note that sometimes the PowerSwitch website can be a little out of date, as new power plans are being released all the time. So we would recommend double checking the prices on the Power companies own website by entering in your address, to get up to date prices.
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