Photo: 123rf
Customers looking for a better deal on their power bills have a growing number of options, including everything from free weekends to cheaper hot water options and free night-time power.
In recent years, power companies have expanded their offerings beyond standard bills.
A survey of what is on offers shows - among others - free power options from Contact and Meridian, deals for charging EVs from Contact, Octopus, Genesis and Mercury, targeted hot water heating from Contact, Meridian and Genesis, a "fourth-trimester" offer of free power to people with a new baby from Contact, a range of buyback rates for solar power and a "zero bill" offer for houses with solar panels from Octopus.
A spokesperson for the Electricity Retailers Association (ERANZ) said there were hundreds of thousands of people on "time of use" or other flexible plans.
He said things like water heaters, solar panels, batteries and heat pumps were increasingly being operated flexibly to help people reduce their power bills.
Contact said, that since it launched its "good" plans in August 2021, offering free power from 9pm until midnight and during the day weekends, along with its half-price plans from 9pm to 7am for people charging EVs, customers had used 151 million hours of free power.
Genesis said it was upgrading its billing and customer management system to offer more flexible products in future.
Paul Fuge, general manager of Powerswitch, said independent retailers had led the way and larger players were now following suit.
"Determining what offers good value is tricky.
"A plan that saves one household money might cost another more. Savings depend on a myriad of factors like a household's ability and willingness to adjust their behaviour around electricity consumption.
"Time-of-use plans, for example, reward being able to consume electricity 'off-peak' - that's the times of the day when the demand for electricity is lower - but these don't suit everyone.
"Powerswitch now tracks 3500 plans, and we've seen both the number and variety of plans grow significantly in the past five years.
"While that's great for choice, many consumers feel overwhelmed. We've worked hard to simplify things through articles, explainers, and improvements to the Powerswitch algorithm to help households find the best plan for their needs.
"With funding from the Electricity Authority, we're currently developing an AI-powered bill reader.
"This tool will analyse power bills automatically, recommending not only cheaper plan options but also identify potential behaviour and appliance changes that will save the household further.
"It could be a game-changer. We are excited to launch it later this year."
ERANZ's spokesperson agreed time of use would not work for every household.
"However, there are different types of both flat-rate and flexible plans, and it's a good idea to check with your electricity retailer to see what's available and find the best plan for your home."
Meridian's chief customer officer Lisa Hannifin, said even without the offers being actively promoted, people were approaching the company and asking about them.
"There's a lot of interest out there."
She said the propositions power companies were offering were much easier to use than old offers where people might have had to watch the market and make adjustments themselves.
"You just sign up and choose the level of engagement you want to have."
"Cookie cutter" power plans were likely to become a thing of the past, she said.
Octopus Energy chief operating officer Margaret Cooney said customers were looking for the cheapest options.
"Time of use plans - which have different rates for different times or days can offer really material savings if consumers are prepared to shift their energy usage habits.
"So if you have an EV, a half-price nights or free weekends plan could save you a load of money if you can shift charging to these cheaper times. The cheaper times are generally when the costs of supply are less."
Here's what was on offer from some of the biggest power firms.
Contact Energy
- Good Nights: Free power from 9pm to midnight.
- Good Weekends: Free power from 9am to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Good Charge: Half-price power to charge an EV from 9pm to 7am.
- Hot Water Sorter: Turns energy down when hot water is not in use.
- Fourth Trimester: Families with a new baby are offered three months of free energy.
Mercury NZ
- EV Fuel Package: A discount rate for charging an EV during off-peak hours.
- Residential Solar buy-back: A standard buy-back rate of 8.5 cents per kWh.
- Harrison's Solar buy-back: If customers install with Harrison's Solar and sign up for a two-year electricity contract they can get a per kWh buy-back of 18 cents.
Meridian Energy
- Smart Hot Water plan: A monthly credit reward in exchange for automatically switching off the electricity supply to hot water cylinders during peak periods and switching it back on when there is less demand.
- Four Free: Four hours of free off-peak power daily.
Genesis Energy
- Energy EV plan: Between 9pm and 7am, EV owners receive a 50 percent electricity discount.
- Power Shout Hours: Packages of free hours of power distributed throughout the year which customers can use whenever they want.
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