Powershop is an online power company available in Central Canterbury, including Christchurch City, regional towns and remote rural areas. We’ve been powering homes and businesses in the region since 2009.
Who has the power in Christchurch?
There are around 207,500 individual properties connected to the electricity network in the Christchurch and Central Canterbury region.
The average consumption per property in Central Canterbury is approximately 8,149 kWh* per year. This compares to 7,882 kWh* per year in the South Island and 6,763 kWh* per year for the North Island.
Where does the power come from?
More than half of the electricity generated to New Zealand’s national grid is hydroelectric. The majority of this generation is from hydro stations on lakes and rivers in the lower half of the South Island.
Who is the local lines company in Christchurch?
Orion owns and operates the electricity distribution network that provides power to Christchurch City. The Orion network extends over 8,000 square kilometres across central Canterbury from the Waimakariri River in the north to the Rakaia River in the south.
Your lines company are the people to call if there is a fault or outage at your property. You can view an outage map and report outages on Orion’s website, as well as find helpful information on coping with an outage.
Do I get a dividend from my lines company in Christchurch?
Orion do not provide a dividend to their customers.
How much do I pay for power in Christchurch?
Enter your address in our calculator. to get a quick estimate of your rates. You can also upload a recent bill to get an annual cost estimate and find out how much Powershop could save you compared to your current retailer.
Or you can download the current rates for residential customers in the Central Canterbury region.
How can I save money on power in Christchurch?
There are a number of ways you can save money on power in Central Canterbury, including:
- Shifting your usage to off-peak times (we call it Get Shifty)
- Turning off appliances when you're not using them
- Using energy efficient appliances and LED lightbulbs
- If you’re with Powershop, buying our regular discounted specials.
For more power saving tips check out our Saving Electricity hub or the Gen Less website.
Can I save money if I am a low user?
You can also save money if you are a low user and choose the low user pricing option when you sign up to an electricity retailer. The low user option is only available for your main home (where you live most of the time). For Central Canterbury the government defines a low user is someone who uses less than 9,000 kWh per year.
If you are a low user you pay a lower daily charge but pay a higher variable electricity charge. At Powershop we check our customers’ accounts every three months to make sure they are on the right pricing option for their usage.
What is Get Shifty?
The technical term is Time of Use pricing, which is available to customers with smart meters in nearly all network areas – including the Orion network. We call it Get Shifty. With Get Shifty, you can save money when you shift your power use to off-peak times of the day.
Note that while your off-peak rate is lower with Get Shifty, your peak rate is higher. So it’s not for everyone.
What are my peak and off-peak times for the Orion network on Get Shifty?
Off-peak times: 9pm to 7am weekdays, all day weekends. Peak times: 7am to 9pm weekdays.
What are the rates for Get Shifty?
If you would like to find out your Get Shifty rates for the Orion Network before signing up, just contact us via live chat at the bottom of the page. Or download our full rates for residential customers in the Central Canterbury region.
*Source: EA Retail Dashboards- Residential Consumption 2019
