Price changes – frequently asked questions

Your price reflects all the costs incurred by the various parties in the electricity supply chain. It varies between customers, depending on various factors like where you live and how much power you use. 

The portion you pay Powershop includes our operating costs, like our friendly Customer Care team in Christchurch, and for the cost of power and metering services. 

The network charges are the component of your pricing that is charged by your local network company to cover the building, transmission and maintenance of the power lines used to distribute power to you. Then there’s GST and the Electricity Authority levy that are added. 

Your power prices are rising because the cost of providing power is increasing. 

When we set our prices, we think about all parts of your bill. These include the cost of generating and buying electricity, our service investments, fees paid to transmission and distribution companies, metering costs, GST, levies, and regulatory costs. 

While we aim to limit price increases, rising costs in the various components that make up your bill mean that we sometimes need to pass on price increases to our customers.

Transpower operates New Zealand’s national electricity transmission system, while local network companies distribute electricity to homes and businesses. Transmission and local network charges are passed on to retailers (including Powershop) who then pass on these costs to customers through their electricity bill.   

Over the next five years, Transpower and some local network companies are planning on making significant investments in lines infrastructure.  These costs are beyond our control but are essential for reliable electricity supply.  From 1 April 2026, some of the network charges charged to Powershop are increasing. 

For more information on how network charges are determined and how they impact your bill, visit the Commerce Commission website.  

Refer to your letter from us for more information on the impact of network changes on your charges.   

If you’re struggling to pay your electricity bills or think you will soon – just give us a shout, we’re here to help! Whether you don’t have enough money or if you’d suffer harm without power, our team can support you. There’s no need to feel awkward about giving us a heads up. We’re here to help keep your lights on, whatever your situation.  

We have an Energy Wellbeing Fund to support our residential customers in energy hardship. The fund can help cover part of your bills and provide payment plans, as well as assist with in-home assessments and quick fixes in appropriate situations.  

Please get in touch with us through our webpage and our team will do their best to help you. 

See how we can help

The New Zealand Government has been phasing out Low User fixed charges since 1 April 2022. Each year on 1 April, the maximum daily fixed charge for Low User plans increased as part of this transition. From 1 April 2027, the Low User regulations will no longer exist. 

If your household uses less than around 8,000 kWh a year (or 9,000 kWh in some parts of the lower South Island), the Low User option may still work out to be the most cost‑effective choice until it ends. 

Find out more by visiting the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website. 

We hear this one all the time, so we whipped up a fun little guide on How to Shop. It’s your go‑to cheat sheet for grabbing power like a pro.

How to shop

If you have a communicating smart meter, in many areas of NZ you can pay different rates by moving onto our Get Shifty option. With Get Shifty (Time of Use pricing) you pay a bit less for power you use at off-peak times, and a bit more for power you use at peak times. So, you could save money by shifting your power use to off-peak times.

Is Get Shifty available in my area?

Most properties in New Zealand now have smart meters. Smart meters mean we get more frequent usage information, and they don't need a human to manually read them. We get your smart meter readings daily, and they show your power usage down to the half hour so you can see where you’re using the most power. 

On your app, at the bottom of your ‘balance’ page, click ‘daily usage’. If you’re on the desktop app select ‘usage’ and ‘average daily usage’. 

If you can see daily meter readings have been recorded, that means you have a smart meter. 

If you still haven’t found the answer you’re looking for, visit our help page. 

Powershop has always been about the Shop, it’s our bread, butter and secret sauce all rolled into one. So, we’re keeping things true to who we are and moving everyone onto the Shop model. 

That means Powershop Lite is heading off into the sunset. The Shop is where all the good stuff happens and it’s the way forward for everything we’re building.

If you’re with Powershop, you’re here for the Shop so we’re leaning right into that. 

We'll shift you across automatically on the 1st of April. From there you can start making the most of the Shop. We whipped up a fun little guide on How to Shop. It’s your go‑to cheat sheet for grabbing power like a pro.

How to shop

Maybe. Powershop uses seasonal pricing, which means your rates change with the seasons. In summer, when electricity costs less, your rates will be lower. In winter, when demand is higher, rates reflect that. 

The good news? You’ll now have access to the Shop, where you can buy power and grab special discounted Powerpacks whenever it suits you, giving you more control over your costs. The more you shop the more you save!  

Released on the first of every month, the Staying Power powerpack has the biggest discount out of all our Powerpacks and stays in your Shop all month so you can grab it when it suits you. Staying Power rewards customers for loyalty, so the longer you’re a customer, the bigger the discount you get! Hell yeah, that’s right, we reward you for your loyalty! The discount is off your Standard Rates* (based on your estimated usage) and starts at 20% for newbies and goes up 1% every year to a max of 25% after five years! 

Your tenure will be transferred across so if you’ve been with us for a while you won’t miss out on your discount.  

*Standard Rates are the rates you’re charged for your power if you don’t buy any Powerpacks. 

On Lite, you didn’t need to shop for your power. With the Shop model, you’ll have access to our full Powershop experience. Buy power when it suits you, grab discounted Powerpacks and take control of your energy costs. 

Customers on Lite that have a flat energy rate, will move to a seasonal energy rate. 

We’re sending you a short bill on 1 April 2026 to make sure you’re not disadvantaged by the timing of this change and so you don’t miss out on buying Powerpacks for the month. After that, you’ll go back to your usual billing schedule.