16c (now 18c) Per Kwh PLUS 16 Hours of Free Power 9am - 5pm on Weekends

LJunoNZ on 07/07/2024 - 17:46
Last edited 20/07/2024 - 14:42

Recently we needed to change power company after they upped their rates massively.

We are at home during the day so it seemed like one of the Off-Peak plans should work for us. But boy, it gets complicated working out which is best, and the power comparison sites are useless. For us, they said the best offer was Genesis at 17c per kWh across the board - no peak/off-peak offer.

Unconvinced, I requested our power data for the last two years (everyone can ask their power company for it) and after some complex spreadsheeting worked out which was the best for us. The summary for us was that the best offer was Contact Energy's Good Weekend Plan at:

          ***     16c per kWh PLUS 16 hours of free power 9am - 5pm on Weekends.   ***

The daily charge was the lowest of the off-peak plans too at $2.175

They also had the lowest gas rates. For reference, we're in East Auckland, Standard Users, with piped gas but no broadband. The rates are excluding GST.

My recommendations after the exercise are:
1) Don't rely on the power comparison companies - they don't have Contact Energy and inferred it was because they're uncompetitive when the reverse was true.
2) Don't be fooled by the headline offer - do the math. Free hours sounds amazing until you check the paid rate - and how much can you do in those free hours anyway.
3) Don't base it on the maximum number of off-peak hours - factor in the rates. One of the plans I compared had 138 hours at an off-peak rate but the off-peak rate was 18c and the peak rates were over 20c.

I've published the comparison table in case it helps anyone: https://tinyurl.com/3rvf9z2s

And I absolutely have no association with Contact Energy other than just becoming a customer. The link below is not an affiliate link.
I believe a few other people may have shared a Friend-get-friend offer but I don't even have that. I think there are also some big credits if you swap your broadband - we haven't done that yet. Will think about it in a month or two.

I am curious if anyone has an Anytime plan with a rate lower than 16c excluding GST.

Did I jump to Contact Energy too soon?

UPDATE: My confirmation email from Contact changed the rate to 18c which I challenged. It seems that an issue with my gas ICP delayed the change over and meanwhile the rate increased from 16c to 18c. My account to getting changed to the rate I was offered.

18c plus 16 hours free at the weekend remains a good deal, although Electric Kiwi’s Powershifter and Genesis’ anytime rates were close for me.

New Learning: always check the rate they email you versus the rate they give you on the phone. I’m sooo angry.

Maybe it will be a switch to Electric Kiwi after all.

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Comments

  • taeken on 07/07/2024 - 18:04
    -1

    Depends where you are in NZ, in CHCH I'm on a low user plan with $0.90 daily charge and anytime $0.0163 kWh excl. GST.

    • Stoic on 07/07/2024 - 20:22

      Damn. Who are you with that it's 1.63 cents pet kWh?

      • taeken on 08/07/2024 - 06:53

        Sorry to dash your hopes of 1 cent power, hope you aren't too disappointed.
        That's a typo, no prizes for guessing what it should be.

    • FiveFeetUnder on 08/07/2024 - 08:58

      What power company? I am with Contact in Selwyn at 19.8c/kWh and $1.009 per day (Good Nights plan)

      • JunoNZ on 05/08/2024 - 08:45

        My rate was with Contact on their Good Weekend plan although it’s since gone up to 18c where I live.

        Contact let’s you swap between their different plans and the rates on their Good Weekend plan are definitely lower than Good Nights.

        They might do the comparison for you based on your usage. Could be worth a call and then potentially switch plan not power company.

    • JunoNZ on 08/07/2024 - 10:40

      Adjusting to 16.3c - yes that's an awesome rate for the Low User Plan. I've only compared Standard Plans because that's what we are. I might do the work and add a low-user comparison.

      Who are you with?

  • chep on 07/07/2024 - 18:16

    With broadband bundled, Electric Kiwi offers $0.1855 on peak (Weekdays 7am-9am, 5pm-9pm) and $0.1391 off peak. With my usage that comes to under $0.16 (more than half my usage is off peak). Also 1 hour free power a day (instead of free weekends).

    I jumped to Contact for $400 credit. Once it is used up I'll probably return to Electric Kiwi or find another offer.

    FYI powerswitch includes Contact (and I think all power companies).

  • NovaAlpha on 07/07/2024 - 18:50

    Thanks for sharing. BTW, your site should have a certificate for HTTPS. You can get a free one with lets encrypt.

    • JunoNZ on 07/07/2024 - 19:42

      Thanks. I’m going to switch to the WIX platform shortly.

  • JunoNZ on 07/07/2024 - 19:39

    Electric Kiwis rates were 29.99c peak and 22.5c for off-peak here in Auckland which is soooo high.

    I can’t understand why rates differ so much for one company. I won’t go near them.

    • chep on 07/07/2024 - 22:10

      There default rates are very high, but if you go to 'change plan' and select both the 'PowerShifter' plan (which requires broadband) and the standard user option (default is low user for some reason) the rates are much more reasonable.

      For a random address in Auckland in this plan (before changing the plan I was offered 40c on peak and 30c off peak),

      Pay for what you use
      Peak

      $0.1912 per kWh

      Weekdays 7am-9am, 5pm-9pm
      Off-peak

      $0.1435 per kWh

      Weekdays 9am-5pm, 9pm-7am

      Weekends 12am-11:59pm
      Plus a fixed cost of

      $2.1700 per day

      • JunoNZ on 08/07/2024 - 10:37
        +1

        Thanks for sharing that. I've updated my table: http://www.myfavourites.co.nz/home/best-off-peak-power-plans

        We have real night owls in our house (on computers to 4am etc) so our off-peak percentage is REALLY high - 78% is off-peak.

        BUT despite all that, when I do the numbers the Contact Energy Good Weekend deal is still cheaper on the electricity alone. Electric Kiwi is second.
        I'm pretty sure that Electric Kiwi doesn't have gas though and Contact Energy was cheaper than Genesis for gas.

        As I said in my original post - you have to know how much power you typically use at each rate.

  • akhmed on 07/07/2024 - 19:45

    I got contact too.
    After alot of research i went with them. But I instead got the good charge. Which is lower rate from 9pm to 7am. Every night. So I start the dishwasher, washing, drying, Dyson recharge etc.

    I wanted to be able to do all chores throughout the week rather than wait for weekends to use the free power. Coz usually you end up going outside/parties on the weekends.

  • JunoNZ on 07/07/2024 - 22:17

    I agreed and thought this would be the best plan but the rates are so different.

    You would think that 70 hours off-peak at half price would be awesome but it’s half of 21.4c. I calculated it based on our actual usage and the Good Weekend plan is better.

    What is good is that Contact has 3 different off-peak plans and you can switch from one to the other depending on your usage.

  • chep on 07/07/2024 - 22:22
    +2

    Having a further look at Electric Kiwi's plans they make no sense except to extort customers who don't check close enough. For every user and every charge the default 'Kiwi' plan is more expensive than the opt-in 'MoveMaster' plan. Opting in to the cheaper is hidden behind a menu, and the pricing for either plan cannot be shown at the same time to make comparing harder.

    This is all for a random address in Auckland, but pricing is very similar to Wellington. Excludes GST.

    Time Kiwi (default selection) MoveMaster Power Shifter (requires broadband)
    Standard user peak $0.3152 $0.2863 $0.1912
    Low user peak $0.4141 $0.3983 $0.2695
    Standard user off-peak $0.2364 $0.2004 $0.1435
    Low user off-peak $0.3105 $0.2788 $0.2021
    Standard user nights $0.2364 $0.1431 $0.1435
    Low user nights $0.3105 $0.1991 $0.2021
    Standard user daily charge $2.1900 $2.1900 $2.1700
    Low user daily charge $0.6000 $0.6000 $0.9000
  • amlsjl on 08/07/2024 - 08:01
    +1

    If anyone here is on solar plus battery the Contact Good Nights free power 9pm-12am plan is a game changer!

    Not only do we preset all the appliances and heat pump, but our 10kw
    storage battery gets completely topped up in those 3 hours too.

    We run an electric car, spa pool, fridges, freezers, (live rurally) etc for around $70/month in winter which includes the daily .90c charge.
    Wish we’d known about this plan years ago!

    • cutcutcut on 08/07/2024 - 09:00

      I'd love to hear about your solar setup and the initial cost outlay.

    • JunoNZ on 08/07/2024 - 09:07

      That’s an awesome use of the plan.

    • ace310 on 08/07/2024 - 09:13
      +3

      I would love to hear as well on your setup. But so far what I have gathered is that to offset the initial cost of the setup (solar + battery) would take around 10yrs to recover. Which still seems pretty high to me. Yes, you have the benefits of surviving in power outages and all those. Still I am not convinced yet to jump on that setup yet. Consuming around 600kwh /month (300 paid + 300 free, contact good night plan.), Charge EV, run dishwasher, laundry, heat pumps, topup batteries on devices(smart charging), so can do quite alot within those 3 hrs for now.

    • JunoNZ on 10/07/2024 - 07:14

      I see that in their terms and conditions they refer to "Fair and Reasonable Use" for the Free period. Hopefully they don't notice :)

      • Detruire on 10/07/2024 - 16:32

        FYI "fair use" is defined as up to 200kWh per week for the "Good Nights" plan.

  • amlsjl on 08/07/2024 - 09:09
    +2

    We downscaled our reno plans 4 years ago and invested in 12 panels and 10kw battery instead. Best to get some experts in to taylor a specific plan for your home and requirements.

    Works so well for us as we live in a high sunshine hour region and our steep pitched roof faces due north.

    • ace310 on 08/07/2024 - 09:14
      +1

      Can you share the cost, if I don't mind asking?

  • amlsjl on 08/07/2024 - 12:17

    Hey - I get where you're coming from ace100 but we analysed it slightly differently…

    Let's put it this way - four years ago, our $25K investment was basically returning zilch in the bank - it now well and truly rewards us around a $300-400 saving on our power bill every month and has since installation. Plus, we love that living rurally and with the unplanned outages that continue to plague us through what I believe is lack of maintenance and infracture, we can still pump water, cook and have lights on etc

    • ace310 on 08/07/2024 - 13:07

      Thanks. That's good it has worked for you.

  • Tmurder91 on 08/07/2024 - 12:47
    +4

    @JunoNZ - I've always had the same thoughts about comparison tools not taking into account the hourly usage (or someones willingness to change their habits) and so I've always had a quick and dirty google sheet that I could use to upload my current providers power usage and then enter the rates of my current and potential other providers to check the cost difference.

    I've just had a go at making it a bit more user-friendly and automated.
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15GvJ1f4y4JhB-oSedew-…

    Its only a first attempt, and I'm not very good at sheets and coding so theres still a lot of improvements that could be made but happy for everyone to have a go and offer feedback.

    Basically
    - Click the link
    - Save a copy to your own drive
    - Follow the steps on the 'Savings' sheet that first comes up
    - The data that is there already is a comparison of Contacts "Good Weekend" plan (Provider A) and Flicks "Off Peak" plan (Provider B) for my house in East Auckland
    - Once you upload your usage and make changes to the hours/rates it should show you the total

    Assuming I've done the maths etc right (big assumption, but I uploaded my usage from last month and compared it to my bill and it was only $0.41 difference, so must be pretty close) then I would pay $240.08 under Contact Good Weekend, but only $234.10 under Flick

    • boldbilly on 08/07/2024 - 15:42

      That's pretty cool. What columns does the uploaded file need to have?

      • Tmurder91 on 08/07/2024 - 16:03

        It assumes:
        Column D = Date/Time (start of 30 minute period)
        Column F = Usage in kWh

        Here’s a sample of the first 2 rows from my Flick export.

        icp_number meter_serial_number channel_number started_at ended_at value unit_code status
        aaa bbb 1 07/07/2024 00:00 07/07/2024 00:29 0.620 kWh validated

        • Tmurder91 on 08/07/2024 - 16:06

          Here’s a screenshot too
          https://files.cheapies.nz/upload/8062/5073/img_9537.jpeg

        • boldbilly on 08/07/2024 - 16:37

          Thanks, got it. The file from Powershop needed some massaging. Also, for some reason, it includes daily total rows that span and entire day, with a timestamp of 23:59, so they need to be excluded.

          Looks like Powershop are down the road :-)

          • Tmurder91 on 08/07/2024 - 18:19

            @boldbilly: Do you think you could share an example of how the data comes formatted from them? Just a couple of lines with identifying information removed would be enough - I'll have a play and see how hard it is to validate the imported data somehow

            • boldbilly on 08/07/2024 - 18:56
              +1

              @Tmurder91: Sure. From https://secure.powershop.co.nz/reports/consumption_data I downloaded the "detailed consumption file". It looks like this:

              The first "ES" line is the only one in my entire file (9 years worth!).

              Also, as mentioned, make sure to skip the daily summary lines:

              DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 00:00:00,25/03/2015 23:59:59,RD,20.0,

              Here's the start of the file.
              HDR,ICPCONS,1.1,PSNZ,PSNZ,CUST,08/07/2024,,100000,22/03/2015,08/07/2024 DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,22/03/2015 00:00:01,24/03/2015 23:59:59,ES,66.0, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 00:00:01,24/03/2015 00:30:00,RD,0.17, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 00:30:01,24/03/2015 01:00:00,RD,0.21, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 01:00:01,24/03/2015 01:30:00,RD,0.16, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 01:30:01,24/03/2015 02:00:00,RD,0.21, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 02:00:01,24/03/2015 02:30:00,RD,0.17, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 02:30:01,24/03/2015 03:00:00,RD,0.19, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 03:00:01,24/03/2015 03:30:00,RD,0.18, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 03:30:01,24/03/2015 04:00:00,RD,0.19, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 04:00:01,24/03/2015 04:30:00,RD,0.21, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 04:30:01,24/03/2015 05:00:00,RD,0.21, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 05:00:01,24/03/2015 05:30:00,RD,0.44, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 05:30:01,24/03/2015 06:00:00,RD,1.08, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 06:00:01,24/03/2015 06:30:00,RD,0.68, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 06:30:01,24/03/2015 07:00:00,RD,0.3, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 07:00:01,24/03/2015 07:30:00,RD,0.4, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 07:30:01,24/03/2015 08:00:00,RD,0.56, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 08:00:01,24/03/2015 08:30:00,RD,0.42, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 08:30:01,24/03/2015 09:00:00,RD,0.48, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 09:00:01,24/03/2015 09:30:00,RD,0.41, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 09:30:01,24/03/2015 10:00:00,RD,0.46, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 10:00:01,24/03/2015 10:30:00,RD,0.8, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 10:30:01,24/03/2015 11:00:00,RD,0.79, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 00:00:00,25/03/2015 23:59:59,RD,20.0, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 11:00:01,24/03/2015 11:30:00,RD,0.3, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 11:30:01,24/03/2015 12:00:00,RD,0.28, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 12:00:01,24/03/2015 12:30:00,RD,0.33, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 12:30:01,24/03/2015 13:00:00,RD,0.28, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 13:00:01,24/03/2015 13:30:00,RD,0.36, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 13:30:01,24/03/2015 14:00:00,RD,0.3, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 14:00:01,24/03/2015 14:30:00,RD,0.32, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 14:30:01,24/03/2015 15:00:00,RD,0.31, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 15:00:01,24/03/2015 15:30:00,RD,0.37, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 15:30:01,24/03/2015 16:00:00,RD,0.39, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 16:00:01,24/03/2015 16:30:00,RD,0.33, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 16:30:01,24/03/2015 17:00:00,RD,0.33, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 17:00:01,24/03/2015 17:30:00,RD,0.36, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 17:30:01,24/03/2015 18:00:00,RD,0.47, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 18:00:01,24/03/2015 18:30:00,RD,1.23, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 18:30:01,24/03/2015 19:00:00,RD,1.44, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 19:00:01,24/03/2015 19:30:00,RD,0.61, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 19:30:01,24/03/2015 20:00:00,RD,0.53, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 20:00:01,24/03/2015 20:30:00,RD,0.57, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 20:30:01,24/03/2015 21:00:00,RD,0.42, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 21:00:01,24/03/2015 21:30:00,RD,0.43, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 21:30:01,24/03/2015 22:00:00,RD,0.37, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 22:00:01,24/03/2015 22:30:00,RD,0.35, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 22:30:01,24/03/2015 23:00:00,RD,0.35, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 23:00:01,24/03/2015 23:30:00,RD,0.24, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,24/03/2015 23:30:01,25/03/2015 00:00:00,RD,0.23, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 00:00:01,25/03/2015 00:30:00,RD,0.16, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 00:30:01,25/03/2015 01:00:00,RD,0.21, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 01:00:01,25/03/2015 01:30:00,RD,0.17, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 01:30:01,25/03/2015 02:00:00,RD,0.18, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 02:00:01,25/03/2015 02:30:00,RD,0.18, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 02:30:01,25/03/2015 03:00:00,RD,0.19, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 03:00:01,25/03/2015 03:30:00,RD,0.22, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 03:30:01,25/03/2015 04:00:00,RD,0.18, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 04:00:01,25/03/2015 04:30:00,RD,0.21, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 04:30:01,25/03/2015 05:00:00,RD,0.17, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 05:00:01,25/03/2015 05:30:00,RD,0.72, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 05:30:01,25/03/2015 06:00:00,RD,1.49, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 06:00:01,25/03/2015 06:30:00,RD,0.25, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 06:30:01,25/03/2015 07:00:00,RD,0.31, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 07:00:01,25/03/2015 07:30:00,RD,0.28, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 07:30:01,25/03/2015 08:00:00,RD,1.43, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 08:00:01,25/03/2015 08:30:00,RD,0.31, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 08:30:01,25/03/2015 09:00:00,RD,0.38, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 09:00:01,25/03/2015 09:30:00,RD,0.32, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 09:30:01,25/03/2015 10:00:00,RD,0.23, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 10:00:01,25/03/2015 10:30:00,RD,0.31, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 10:30:01,25/03/2015 11:00:00,RD,0.53, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,26/03/2015 00:00:00,26/03/2015 23:59:59,RD,24.0, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 11:00:01,25/03/2015 11:30:00,RD,0.87, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 11:30:01,25/03/2015 12:00:00,RD,0.18, DET,,0400000000LCFCA,000,NZST,RD10000000,X,IN,19,25/03/2015 12:00:01,25/03/2015 12:30:00,RD,0.2,

    • JunoNZ on 09/07/2024 - 07:43

      We’re both East Auckland but the rates you have for Contact’s Good Weekend Plan are higher than mine. Only 16c for me not 18c. And daily charge $2.175 not $2.356. Is that what you’re currently charged or the rate off their website?

      On my rates (given last week) you’re better off with Contact.

      Why should rates vary so much within a city?

      • ace310 on 09/07/2024 - 08:28

        Gst?

      • Tmurder91 on 09/07/2024 - 14:26

        I'm not with Contact - its just what I saw listed on their website.
        With the rates on the website, I'm a tiny bit better with Contact, but with the rates you listed, I'm a lot better with Contact and would definitely switch

        I opted for Electricity only with no gas or broadband etc which could be it - do you get better rate for picking those?
        Did you signup online, or negotiate something?

        https://journey.contact.co.nz/residential/find-a-plan
        https://files.cheapies.nz/upload/8062/5074/screenshot_2024-0…

      • Tmurder91 on 10/07/2024 - 09:09

        @JunoNZ Did you negotiate that 16c rate or was it just via the website?
        I'm looking at the website and only get 18c so keen to swap over to that one somehow - mind sending me a DM or enabling yours?

        • JunoNZ on 11/07/2024 - 12:26
          +1

          They gave it to me over the phone. I joined within 45 mins and when the confirmation came through a few days ago it was 18c!!

          I was going to post an update but am waiting to hear back from the manager after I complained.

          I’ll update my comparison page this afternoon. I am so angry with them - I queried it at the time and the lady was quite adamant 16c was correct and she said it was there most popular plan.

          Watch this space for an update.

          • Tmurder91 on 11/07/2024 - 13:54

            @JunoNZ: Much appreciated thanks - also what a s*** experience, good luck with that!

          • boldbilly on 11/07/2024 - 15:35
            +1

            @JunoNZ: After your initial post I did some searching to see what customers thought of Contact Energy and there seemed to be a LOT of negative commentary. Good too see they are living up to their reputation

          • curiousb on 11/07/2024 - 22:07
            +1

            @JunoNZ: In Auckland too. Went on the Contact website last week, it said it couldn't give me a price for Good Weekends online because they were in the middle of a pricing update. Told me to call instead. I think you had the same thing. This week it is giving me the 18c + gst price on the website.

            Sucks that they screwed up the pricing for you on the phone, after all your work too. They should honour it really, a deal is a deal

    • cutcutcut on 09/07/2024 - 21:33

      Oh nice one! I tried it out but my data download from Electric kiwi must not be in the right format, I'll try and figure out if I can manipulate it to be correct.

      • Tmurder91 on 09/07/2024 - 22:49
        +1

        Yeah I havn't got as far as any smart logic on the import.
        Try pasting the date/time column from your export into column D
        And the kWh into column F

        • cutcutcut on 09/07/2024 - 23:00

          Unfortuantely mine seem to be quite different, dates run down column D, but time runs along the top, kWh running down below each time section. I'm so confused by all the off-peak, peak, nights, daily chatges, gst, no gst. My brain is not meant for this! Haha.

          • Tmurder91 on 09/07/2024 - 23:02
            +1

            @cutcutcut: Feel to DM me your file if you want and I can have a look - or just share a couple of rows with any identifying information removed here

            • cutcutcut on 16/07/2024 - 08:52

              @Tmurder91: Thanks for your help mate, spreadsheet works well, very handy for using our actual real world usage to figure out what might be the best plan.

  • boldbilly on 08/07/2024 - 19:30

    Powershop rates vary by month. Are the prices quoted here for July? Were they lower in June?

    Screenshot:

    https://ibb.co/x643cDb

    • mpc on 09/07/2024 - 09:26
      +3

      I gave up on Powershop due to their variable rates increasing in winter when most people use the most power. It's also very difficult to track competitiveness over time.

  • JunoNZ on 10/07/2024 - 07:21
    +3

    Great news - the Electricity Authority has just (yesterday) announced that they're going to launch a new power comparison site next year to make comparison of the "new and innovative offerings". https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/521690/electricty-author…

    They're only just tendering for web developers though so isn't planned to be ready till 1 July next year.

    Hopefully it can reflect a household's actual use against the peak/off-peak plans and free hours.

  • cutcutcut on 16/07/2024 - 08:55

    Anybody here have experience with flick electric?

  • Martz5 on 19/07/2024 - 15:08

    It looks like Electric Kiwi aren’t accepting any new customers at the moment due to high wholesale prices
    https://www.electrickiwi.co.nz/blog/why-is-electric-kiwi-not…

    • nzmax on 19/07/2024 - 16:00
      +1

      So much for a competitive electricity market for consumers. Also low power users are getting screwed by the hiking of the daily rate over the next 5 years which could at least double the cost for many low power users. The unit rate is supposed to drop to compensate, but in my case both the daily and unit prices have both increased with the last two price hikes.

  • cutcutcut on 20/07/2024 - 11:05

    What did you end up doing? Going with them anyway?

    • JunoNZ on 03/08/2024 - 15:42

      I ended up going with Contact and they honoured the prices they gave me over the phone which is awesome. 16c per kW and 16 hours free at the weekend.

      It turns out there was a delay in transferring my account to Contact and in the meantime the rate went up to 18c per kW.

      I've updated the comparison I did earlier and many of the non-Gentailers have either put their prices up or, in the case of Electric Kiwi, aren't accepting any new electricity customers. In the updated comparison, Contact's Good Weekend plan is still the cheapest for me.

      https://www.myfavourites.co.nz/home/best-off-peak-power-plan…

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