Households left $1.5b on the table in power price savings

Recent article on stuff stated that New Zealand households missed out on $1.5 billion in savings over the past five years because they did not switch to the cheapest power provider available.

The main issue is that many households are complacent about their electricity bills, according to Electricity Authority.

In 2011, residential customers could have saved $165 each or $280 million collectively by switching to a cheaper option – a figure that increased to $175 each, or a collective $307m, in 2015.

As a result, over the five years, the potential savings passed the $1.5b mark.

New Zealanders have a good rate of switcing power companies compared to other countries. In 2015 alone almost 418,000 consumers changed their electricity supplier. This is also stimulated by the fact that 12 of New Zealand's 16 regions  had an increase in the number of electricity retail brands available for consumers to choose from.

"Our research shows just under 60 per cent of consumers consider their electricity options each year, either by looking into switching or investigating the options with their current retailer," Electricity Authority chief executive Carl Hansen said.

"Of those that don't consider their options, the main reasons for this behaviour are that they were happy with their current plan or retailer, followed by being too busy, or thinking it was too much hassle to review or switch. I'd love to see more consumers actively considering their options – it all helps increase the competitive pressure in the market and ensures electricity retailers are giving the best deal possible."

It is pretty easy to compare power companies, see how much you will save and switch through a website such as glimp. Visit us here: www.glimp.co.nz/power. 

"Switching electricity providers is not at all like the switching processes in some other services – the electricity companies do all the leg work."