Understanding electricity pricing

The price you pay for electricity is made up of many different parts – everything from the cost of generating power and getting it to your home, right through to reading your meter and managing your account. You can see a breakdown of what your electricity bill pays for here.

How do you calculate my price?

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; and
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.

Energy user profiles

How do I choose my energy user profile?

The best energy user profile for you and your household will vary depending on how much electricity you use. We’ve explained the difference between our two residential electricity energy user profiles below to help you decide.

You can change the energy user profile once every 12 months, and we’ll also monitor your usage over time and send you an annual Energy User Profile Check.

The pricing for both of these energy user profiles is made up of a daily fixed charge and a variable charge or charges. A variable charge is the cost of the amount of electricity you use, whereas the daily fixed charge covers the fixed cost of supplying energy to your property.

Low Energy User profile

The Low Energy User profile is generally most suitable for customers who use 8,000 kWh or less of electricity each year (9,000 kWh or less for lower South Island customers) see details.

The reduced daily fixed charge compared to the Standard Energy User profile means that it is usually more cost-effective for lower energy users. This energy user profile is only available for primary residences - not holiday homes and other properties you may own.

Move to the Low Energy User profile

Standard Energy User profile

The Standard Energy User profile is generally most suitable for customers using more than 8,000 kWh of electricity each year (more than 9,000 kWh for lower South Island customers) see details.

The lower variable charge(s) compared to the Low Energy User profile means that this profile is usually more cost-effective for higher energy users.

Move to the Standard Energy User profile

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