Customer Terms & Conditions

1 - Introduction

1.1 This contract applies when we start supplying electricity to any property at your request (a "property" is an address to which we supply electricity, including land and buildings at that address). If at any time (whether now or later) you have more than one property we supply electricity to, this contract applies to all those properties for as long as we supply electricity to them.

1.2 If more than one person is named as a customer on an account, each person is individually responsible for meeting all the responsibilities under this contract, including paying all our charges for all the properties covered by this contract. We need consent from every person that wishes to be named as a customer on an account.

2 - Supplying Electricity to You

2.1 We will:

operate a "shop" where you can purchase electricity products from participating suppliers (electricity products are packs made up of a number of units of electricity. One unit is equivalent to one kilo-watt hour of electricity (kWh));
operate an online help and call centre at reasonable times to help answer any questions or solve any problems with purchasing electricity products or with your account;
operate a 24 hour faults service to respond to any faults with, or interruption to, electricity supply to your properties.

2.2 We will have arrangements in place:

with the distribution companies relevant to your properties (a distribution company is the owner of the electricity distribution network that connects to a property) so that we can supply electricity to your properties unless a distribution company has a direct contract with you;
to ensure that there is a meter installed at each property and that this meter is read at regular intervals.

2.3 Sometimes your electricity supply may not be continuous or steady. We will have arrangements in place to ensure that electricity supply to each affected property is restored as soon as practicable in the event of interruption.

3 - Disturbances and interruptions to electricity supply

3.1 You must call the relevant faults number shown on our website at www.powershop.co.nz to report a fault in the supply of electricity if you suspect there is one.

3.2 You must treat all electrical lines or wires at all times as LIVE! and therefore deadly. You are responsible for your personal safety.

3.3 It is your responsibility to:

if you are a residential customer, tell us if:
1. you or someone in your household depends on electricity supply for critical medical support; or
2. disconnection of electricity supply would present a clear threat to the health or wellbeing of you or someone in your household because of their health, age or disability; or
3. it is genuinely difficult for you or a member of your household to pay for the electricity supplied to your properties because of severe financial insecurity, whether temporary or permanent;
protect property and equipment (including your electrical equipment) from fluctuations in frequency, voltage and interruption to supply;
insure yourself against damage from those fluctuations or interruptions. This includes taking business interruption insurance if it is appropriate to you.

3.4 If a distribution company plans to interrupt your electricity supply for example for maintenance, we will try to give you at least 4 days notice.

4 - Determining the electricity supplied

4.1 We will determine the amount of electricity supplied to a property by reading the meter or, if we have not read the meter we will estimate the amount of electricity supplied to that property.

4.2 If you have any "unmetered" supply, we will estimate the amount of electricity supplied.

4.3 We need to read the meters at a property on a regular basis. You must allow us access to each of your properties and to the metering equipment to allow us to do that. You can provide us with additional meter readings at any time.

4.4 You must tell us if you do not think a meter is accurate. If you ask us to test a meter, or if we decide to test it, and we find it is not within the industry standards of accuracy, we will work out what your actual electricity usage should have been, and we will debit or credit your account with us accordingly. If you ask us to test a meter, and it is found to be accurate, you may be charged for the meter test.

5 - Paying for power

5.1 You must pay for all electricity supplied to a property.

5.2 When we have determined the amount of electricity supplied to a property in accordance with clause 4, we will reconcile your account. To do this, first we will check whether you have purchased electricity products with sufficient available units to cover the electricity supplied to that property. Then (unless you tell us you don't want us to do this) we will notify you of the amount of electricity you have used, and (if necessary) the number of units of electricity products you need to buy, if you choose to actively purchase electricity. If so, you must make the purchase within 2 business days.

5.3 If:

you do not wish to purchase electricity products; or
the number of units of electricity products you have purchased which are available for use at the time is not sufficient to cover the electricity we have determined was supplied to a property,
we will initiate an auto-purchase on your behalf as follows:
we will automatically purchase electricity products with sufficient available units to cover the electricity supplied to that property using your nominated electricity product for that property (a nominated electricity product is an electricity product you have authorised us to purchase on your behalf to cover any automatic electricity product purchases) at its current price;
we will deduct the money you owe for the purchase of these electricity products using your default payment method (a default payment method is the bank account you have authorised us to deduct money from or the credit card you have authorised us to charge).

5.4 Electricity products may have conditions attached to them which determine their validity (for example, they may only cover electricity supplied before a certain date). You may not receive any refund if you fail to use electricity products before their expiry date. Our refunds policy forms part of this contract and sets out the conditions under which you are entitled to a refund. The latest version of our refunds policy is always on our website.

5.5 Electricity products may have additional conditions attached to them. You must comply with any additional conditions attached to the electricity products that we tell you about when you buy them.

5.6 Powershop does not accept responsibility for any offers or benefits attached to or accompanying electricity products offered by participating suppliers (except in the case of electricity products offered by Powershop). If a supplier has failed to honour any offer or benefit attached to or accompanying electricity products, you must take this up with the supplier in question.

5.7 If you do not pay us for any amount due under this contract, or if your default payment method is dishonoured, we may:

charge you our costs in collecting money you owe us, including bank fees, credit agency fees, legal and court fees;
charge you a dishonour fee;
disconnect the electricity supply to any property supplied under this contract and you may incur fees for disconnection, reconnection and debt collection.

5.8 You may wish to choose a nominated electricity product. If you do not wish to do so or if you have not chosen a nominated electricity product or if your nominated electricity product is no longer available we will choose one for you and advise you of our choice.

5.9 You must:

always pay us in full. You must not deduct anything off money you owe us;
choose a default payment method;
ensure that your default payment method is up to date and that it always has sufficient clear and accessible funds to cover all payments to us. If you do not do this, we may require you to maintain your account in credit in accordance with clause 5.13a. If you owe us money clause 5.7 will also apply.

5.10 If we find the meter at a property has incorrectly measured your electricity usage, or we are unable to access a meter for a period of time, we will work out what the actual electricity usage at the property should have been. If the electricity products you have purchased do not have sufficient units to cover the electricity actually supplied to a property, we will notify you, and you must purchase enough electricity products with sufficient units to cover the electricity actually supplied to that property. If you do not do this, then we can use the provisions in clause 5.3.

5.11 We will have available on our website a statement detailing your electricity product purchases and any other fees and charges.

5.12 If we incorrectly calculate the units of electricity needed to cover electricity supplied to a property and we have used too many units of the electricity products you have purchased, we will notify you and refund you the difference between the units we should have used and the units we used for electricity supplied to that property. This does not apply where we have calculated usage based on an estimated meter reading.

5.13 We may require:

you to always maintain an account balance with a certain credit balance or to have purchased a certain minimum number of units of electricity products for each property; this may include you always having electricity products with sufficient units to "prepay" the expected electricity supply to each property. If the balance falls below the required amount we can disconnect the electricity supply to any property supplied under this contract and you may incur fees for disconnection and debt collection. If we require you to comply with this clause, you must do so;
a cash bond from you before we can supply or continue to supply electricity to your properties.

5.14 If, before you have used any valid electricity products, the supplier of the electricity products ceases to sell through Powershop (for example due to receivership or liquidation), or we suspend its ability to sell through Powershop, we may cancel those electricity products and credit you their original purchase price. We will tell you if we do this. You must then purchase sufficient available units of electricity product from us to replace those we have cancelled.

5.15 If we require a payment bond from you, we will tell you why and we will give you further information about the terms of that bond before we require you to provide it.

6 - Our Pricing and Our Other Fees & Charges

6.1 Pricing for electricity supply is individual for each property supplied by us. This is because the price you pay for electricity supply is specific to a property and depends on such matters as the network area a property is in, when you use electricity (for example, the proportion of day/night use), how much electricity you use and the meter configuration at a property.

6.2 Pricing for electricity supplied to a property will also vary over the course of a year. The suppliers of electricity products on our online shop price differently over different seasons and times of the year. Typically prices will be cheaper in summer, and higher in winter.

6.3 Prices include GST. The pricing for electricity products may change at any time without notice. It will be shown on the electricity product prices in our online shop, plus we will tell you the relevant electricity price prior to initiating an auto-purchase on your behalf.

6.4 Our schedule of fees for products and services associated with electricity supply forms part of this contract. The latest version of this schedule is always on our website. We will charge you for any of those products and services we supply at the fees set out in that schedule.

6.5 We may deduct any money you owe under this contract using your default payment method.

7 - Provision of Access

7.1 We and others need clear and safe access to:

each property and any land over which you have an easement or right to pass electricity;
metering equipment;
any equipment used to supply electricity,

so that we can supply electricity to you and for safety reasons.

7.2 You must:

provide us, the distribution company and meter owner (and any agent or subcontractor of any of us) with access any time to restore electricity during an interruption in your area, to ensure safety, or to protect people or property;
during business hours (9am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 2pm Saturdays), allow us, the distribution company and meter owner (and any agent or subcontractor of any of us) access to each property (including to meters and other equipment that may be inside) to:
1. connect, suspend or disconnect your electricity supply;
2. read meters;
3. ensure that trees, vegetation, buildings and other obstacles are clear of electricity lines or electrical equipment. If you do not do this you may be charged for the cost of clearing the trees, vegetation or obstacles;
4. install, inspect, work on or remove any equipment necessary to provide electricity;
5. investigate or repair any damage or interference or suspected damage or interference with the distribution or any equipment used to supply electricity.

7.3 You must also allow clear and safe access to a property if we or a distribution company or meter owner need to install or maintain equipment for load control.

7.4 If you do not provide clear and safe access, we or the distribution company may disconnect your electricity supply.

8 - Equipment on property

8.1 You must:

make sure nothing on any property interferes with or damages the distribution network;
ensure the safety, security and maintenance of any electricity lines and equipment used on each property;
ensure the safety, security and maintenance of any electricity lines and equipment past a distribution connection point to any dwelling or premises on a property;
keep trees, vegetation and other obstacles away from meters and the electricity lines - this includes things overhanging from neighbouring premises;
make sure there is sufficient secure space at each property for metering equipment and other equipment we or the distribution company think is necessary to supply electricity to you;
make sure that other people at a property comply with your obligations under this contract, and in particular this clause 8.

8.2 You must notify us or the relevant distribution company immediately if there is any damage to or fault with meters or equipment.

8.3 You must not:

connect or disconnect a property to a distribution network, or interconnect two or more network connection points (these are the points at which a property connects to an isolating device on the distribution network);
interfere with or work on a distribution company's lines or equipment;
take a supply of electricity from anywhere along the electricity lines between a distribution connection point and the meter;
interfere with any meter or other equipment used to supply you electricity;
generate electricity or inject it into a distribution network;
use a distribution network to send or receive any signal or communication..

8.4 Meters, meter reading equipment, and other equipment that we, a distribution or metering company own does not belong to you, but to the party responsible for supplying it. You must never:

interfere with or remove a meter or meter reading equipment;
interfere with any other equipment supplied by us or a distribution company;
allow any mortgage, security interest or other charge to be created over a meter or other equipment that we, a distribution or metering company own, or otherwise interfere with ownership of any of them.

9 - Suspension or Termination

9.1 You are responsible for payment for all electricity supplied to each property up until:

the date you or we terminate this contract; or
the later of:
1. the date you move out of that property; or
2. the date you notify us you have moved out.

9.2 You may terminate this contract at any time provided you have paid for all electricity supplied to your properties and any other charges you owe us. You will need to contact a new retailer to arrange for the future supply of electricity to a property if you need it.

9.3 If you are vacating any property, you must tell us 2 business days in advance.

9.4 If you want the electricity supply to a property suspended temporarily or permanently, you must tell us 2 business days in advance. You may incur a charge for disconnection or reconnection when you ask us to do either of these things, or if we have had to disconnect for any of the reasons in clause 9.5.

9.5 We or a distribution company may disconnect your electricity supply to any property supplied under this contract if you:

do not pay us for electricity that has been supplied to a property or for charges relating to the supply of electricity to a property (such as for services relating to metering or line charges);
breach any other term of this agreement;
move into a property that we supply electricity to and you do not tell us.

However, we will only disconnect you as the last course of action open to us.

9.6 We will tell you at least 7 days before we disconnect supply of electricity to a property, and we will give you a final warning at least 24 hours, but not more than 7 days, before we intend to disconnect supply of electricity to that property.

9.7 If you are a residential customer and if you tell us that you or someone at a property is dependent on electricity supply for critical medical support and provide sufficient proof of that when we ask, we will not disconnect electricity supply to that property for non-payment.

9.8 We or a distribution company may disconnect or disrupt your electricity supply without notice for safety reasons, where there has been an occurrence or circumstances that may adversely affect the proper working of the distribution network or the transmission system, or where there is an emergency.

9.9 We may terminate this contract at any time by giving you 30 days notice. If we do this you will need to contact a new retailer to arrange for the future supply of electricity to your properties.

10 - Distribution companies and Lines

10.1 You must comply with any agreement you have directly with a distribution company. If you do not have a contract directly with a distribution company, we have arrangements with the relevant distribution company, but you are required to comply with the obligations in this clause 10.

10.2 You must also comply with the distribution company’s network connection standards that apply to a property; you can obtain a copy of these from the relevant distribution company.

10.3 You must follow any instructions given to you by a distribution company to make sure its electricity lines or equipment on your premises is safe.

10.4 Part of your electricity supply may be on load control devices. If a property does have load control devices, we or the distribution company may control their operation as we or others choose.

10.5 A distribution company may interrupt your electricity supply if we are in default under our contract with the distribution company.

11- Use of Your Information

11.1 When you become a customer, and throughout our supply of electricity under this contract, we will collect and hold personal information about you. You must make sure the information you give us is correct and you must always keep it up to date.

11.2 Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. We will not share your personal information except you agree that we may do so when:

you tell us we can do this;
we reasonably believe we are required to do so by law;
we need to do so to supply electricity to you or it is a matter covered by this contract;
we want to keep you informed about products or services, either ourselves or as a joint offer with another business;
we want to recover money from you when you have not paid us, or if we want to list any payment defaults with a credit agency;
you are switching to another electricity retailer;
a distribution company needs or has requested the information. Some examples of when we may do this are if the information is to help supply electricity or to distribute money on their behalf;
this is necessary to assist an adjudicator to resolve a complaint you make about us.

11.3 If you are an individual other than as set out in clause 11.2, we will not share your information with anyone else. This includes information about the account with anyone living at your properties, except if they are also named on the account for that property.

11.4 If you are an individual, you may ask us for access to any personal information we hold about you. If you think that information is inaccurate or incorrect, you may ask us to consider correcting or deleting it. You can do this by sending an email to the following address: info@powershop.co.nz.

11.5 If you are a business, we may use information we hold about you for any of the purposes set out in clause 11.2. We can also use the information we collect or hold to carry out credit checks.

12 - Liability

12.1 If we damage a property by not taking reasonable care, and that damage was reasonably foreseeable we will pay the costs of repairing the damage or replacing damaged property (at our discretion) up to a maximum of $10,000 for any single event or series of closely related events.

12.2 We will never be liable to you for any indirect or consequential loss, or loss of profits or business or any similar claims.

12.3 If for any reason we are found to be liable to you, our total maximum liability under this agreement is still limited to $10,000 for any single event or series of related events.

12.4 We are not required to carry out our responsibilities under this agreement in circumstances where an event has occurred which is beyond our reasonable control and which prevents or delays us from carrying out those responsibilities. Some examples of some events that are likely to be beyond our reasonable control are that:

our website is unavailable;
we have been unable to secure wholesale electricity to supply to a property,
our arrangements with a distribution company have been terminated; or
a distribution company cannot supply electricity to a property (for example, the network or grid they use to supply electricity to that property is unavailable).

If any of our responsibilities under this agreement are interrupted because of an event beyond our reasonable control, we will continue to perform our responsibilities that are not affected by the event and we will do everything we reasonably can to make sure your electricity supply is returned to normal as soon as is reasonably practicable. We are not responsible for any damage that results from electricity supply fluctuations.

12.5 If you suffer a loss or damage because of something the distribution company does or does not do, you can only claim from us what we can recover from the distribution company, and that is applicable to you.

12.6 Each distribution company has excluded or limited its liability to you and to us. Unless the agreement we have with a distribution company provides otherwise, all liability any distribution company may have to you is excluded, as much as the law allows.

12.7 If you damage distribution company equipment or distribution, you may be liable for any damage you cause. If a distribution company suffers direct loss or damage which is caused or contributed to by your fraud, dishonesty, or wilful misconduct, you will be liable to make good that loss or damage.

12.8 If you damage any of our property or equipment or any meters or associated equipment we may require you to pay the cost of repair or replacement of them.

12.9 This exclusion or limitation of liability in clause 12.6 and the benefit of clause 12.7 is enforceable against you by each distribution company under the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982.

12.10 Nothing in this contract affects your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act, which applies in addition to your rights under this contract, providing you are not receiving electricity and services from us for use in a business.

13 - Miscellaneous

13.1 You must not transfer any of your rights and obligations under this agreement to any other person.

13.2 We can change this contract at any time, provided we give you at least 30 days notice in advance by emailing you directly and by advertising on our website but we can change or update our refunds policy and our schedule of fees for products and services associated with electricity supply at any time by updating them on our website. The change applies from when we update our website.

13.3 We can send notices to you to the email address you have provided us. Notices are deemed received the day after they are sent. Always make sure we have your current email address.

13.4 You must always comply with laws, regulations and codes that are applicable to the supply of electricity to a property.

13.5 The provisions of clauses 3.4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 that allow a distribution company to interrupt electricity supply, oblige you to give access to and look after distribution company equipment and lines and cooperate with each distribution company are intended for the benefit of and are enforceable against you by each distribution company under the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982.

13.6 Any clauses that are intended to have effect after termination continue to have effect. This includes clauses 5, 6, 10, 11, 12 and this clause 13.6.

13.7 References to:

us, we and powershop are to Powershop New Zealand Limited;
a distribution company;
a meter owner

in each case include its subsidiaries, employees, contractors and agents. References to "an individual" means to a natural person. Reference to something in the singular includes the plural and vice versa.

14 - Complaints

14.1 If you have a complaint against us, you should tell us as soon as possible. Please contact our complaints team in the first instance. You can do this by phone, email, or in writing. Details of our customer complaints process and complaints phone number and other contact details are on our website.

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