Joining Electric Kiwi

To check if we’re able to supply your place, just enter your address here.

Just drop the team a line and we’ll let you know what we can to do to get everything sorted.

Electric Kiwi requires all customers to be a minimum of 18 years of age.

Electric Kiwi has a smart way to help you save even more money. We call it the Hour of Power. It’s pretty simple, you choose 60 minutes of off-peak power that suits your lifestyle and all electricity used during that hour is free each day!

The available time slots are between 9am-5pm and 9pm-7am every day. You can update your Hour of Power at any time!

So go on, crank the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher all at once - it’s on the house. For some tips on how to get the most of your free hour check out our blog.

It takes a few minutes to join online for electricity. You’ll need to provide us with a few basic details about your property, some personal info, and your preferred payment option. It’s quick, easy and the power will stay on at all times. It takes anywhere from 1 to 10 business days to change away from an old power company. We’ll let you know by email when the change is complete.

If you or someone you’re living with is dependent on power for critical medical support (for example, for the use of medical equipment); and the loss of power could result in loss of life or serious harm it’s important that you get in touch and let us know.

If you or someone you’re living with needs power because of age, health, or disability and the loss of power is a threat to health or wellbeing; and/or it is genuinely difficult to pay power bills because of severe financial insecurity, then please get in touch and let us know.

Hour of Power

Electric Kiwi has a smart way to help you save even more money. We call it the Hour of Power. It’s pretty simple, you choose 60 minutes of off-peak (between 9am-5pm and 9pm-7am every day) power that suits your lifestyle. All electricity used during that hour each day is free! You can update your Hour of Power at any time! So go ahead, put on the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher all at once - it’s on the house.

That’s right! All electricity used during your Hour of Power is 100% free.

The price of electricity changes every 30 minutes. It’s most expensive in a “peak” time during the day - in the morning when people are getting ready for work, and in the evening when people arrive home from work.

During “peak overload” times, such as during a cold snap in winter the ‘peak load’ gets too much for the day-to-day national infrastructure. Everyone wants to use power at the same time as it might be really cold, but not enough electricity can be generated to support us all. So a standby electricity generation plant has to start to prevent the national grid from shutting down. It costs lots of money to start and keep these standby generation plants maintained - only to be started a handful of times a year.

Electric Kiwi’s free Hour of Power aims to help our customers save even more on their electricity bills by changing when you use electricity.

In New Zealand, electricity generation plants (such as wind turbines and hydroelectric dams) monitor in real-time how much electricity is required across the nation, and generate that amount of electricity to send to homes and businesses. However, sometimes these turbines and dams cannot generate enough electricity to meet demand during “peak” electricity use hours (such as 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM), especially during a cold snap. This means expensive gas-powered plants may need to start up and run for an hour or two during the peak, which increases the price of electricity during those times.

By having the Hour of Power you help reduce the “peak” demand on the national infrastructure. By all banding together, we can stop using standby electricity generation plants. So there is no catch - go ahead and put that load on us!

You will receive a free Hour of Power every day for as long as you are an Electric Kiwi customer.

The more power usage that you shift into your Hour of Power, the more money you’ll save! See below for easy examples of what to do to reduce your power costs:

Savings examples
4%

Do nothing different.

8%

Put the washing machine or dishwasher on during your free Hour of Power a few times a week.

10%

Run your washing machine and dishwasher during your free Hour of Power five times a week.

15%

Run your washing machine and dishwasher during your free Hour of Power five times a week, and take a shower during that hour.

Of course you can also save by shifting other power use into your free hour - cooking a roast, putting on your electric blanket, charging up your devices or whipping up a smoothie. Any power you use during that hour is completely free.

Electric Kiwi Services

At Electric Kiwi we want to do right by our customers. If you have an issue we’ll always do our very best to sort it out as quickly as we can, so please get in touch if you have a problem.

Free and independent services are available for any unresolved complaints.

  • For broadband:
    You can contact Telecommunication Dispute Resolution on 0508 98 98 98 or at www.tdr.org.nz.
  • For electricity:
    You can contact Utilities Disputes on 0800 22 33 40 or www.udl.co.nz.

With our live chat service, we can answer within a few seconds to get things sorted between 8am and 10pm on business days and 10am and 8pm on weekends. You can also drop us a line through email and request a call back when you need to. After all who wants to wait in a call centre queue?

For general and billing enquiries we take pride in offering a fast and easy-to-use online support service. Use live chat, the callback option or send us a message. On live chat the team should respond within a few seconds when they’re open, otherwise we aim to reply to all queries within one business day.

If there is anything you can’t find the answer to in our FAQs, just contact us.

The fastest way to get in touch with us is through live chat. You can chat in the app, or on the Electric Kiwi website. If we’re online you should receive a response within a few seconds. You can still send a message if we’re offline, we’ll aim to get back to you within 1 business day.

If you have forgotten your password, click the “Forgot password?” link under the login box on the website login page or on the app and enter the email address linked to your account. Instructions to reset your password will then automatically be sent to that email address.

If it’s your first time logging in, you can find your temporary password in the first welcome email we sent you.

If you are still having trouble logging in, please contact us with your name, the property address connected to Electric Kiwi or to get it resolved ASAP jump on live chat. The team will ask a couple of security questions and get you logged in within a couple of minutes.

You can still join Electric Kiwi if you have gas. Electric Kiwi do not supply household gas mains, or bottles to your property. Depending who you’re with your gas can remain with your current supplier.

If your current provider does not support a “gas only service”, you’ll need to find another gas provider while changing to Electric Kiwi. There are a couple of great independent websites like Powerswitch and Whatsmynumber where you will be able to find the best deal available for you on gas.

If you’re signed up and not getting our emails, give the below steps a try:

  • Check your email Junk folder for emails from Electric Kiwi.
  • Mark the Electric Kiwi email as “Not Junk”.

If you still don’t receive our emails or need a hand, go to our contact us page and drop us a line and we’ll get you sorted.

With our handy app, you can update your Hour of Power, analyse your usage, view your previous bills, contact us directly and much more.

It’s super easy to download on the App Store or on Google Play here and uses the same login details as your online account.

If you’re on Android, you’ll need to be running at least Version 5.1 – Lollipop or greater. For Apple, it requires iOS 11 or later.

We’re adding to the app and making improvements all the time so make sure to drop us a line to let us know what you think!

We do! Currently we're able to supply broadband for our power customers, who already have fibre internet installed. Check out our broadband page for all the details.

Billing

Electric Kiwi offer two easy payment methods for most of our plans:

Direct Debit

During the secure sign up process you can provide us with your nominated bank account details and we’ll debit the amount of money owing from this account each fortnight, month or week depending on what you choose. As everything is done online no paper forms are required to set up the Direct Debit.

We’ll email your bill at least two business days before the payment is due, and the amount will be based on your actual electricity usage. There are no additional charges to use Direct Debit; however your bank may charge you to set up a direct debit authorisation - check with your bank just to make sure.

Credit / Debit Card

During the secure sign up process, you’ll be asked to provide your Credit/Debit Card number that will be used to automatically pay your invoice on your due date. As with the bank account option, everything is done online; no paper forms are needed. We’ll email your bill at least two business days before the payment is due, and the amount will be based on your actual electricity usage. There’s a 1.5% surcharge on each bill to use a Credit/Debit Card.

Yes, we do!

Choose when you pay

Electric Kiwi allow you to select when the money leaves your account, on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. You choose the billing frequency that best suits your lifestyle. We’ll schedule to take your payment on the frequency and cycle you choose. For example, if you get paid fortnightly on Wednesday, you can choose your payments to be taken every fortnight on Thursdays when the money has cleared your account.

Stay Ahead

Turn Stay Ahead on and your account will top-up automatically when your balance reaches $0.00. You set the top-up amount at $50 or greater and we do the rest. Stay Ahead has the added benefit of zero fees (that’s right - no surcharges!) across both direct debit and credit card payments.

Instant payments and bill alerts.

You can also make instant payments to keep your account in credit, or set a bill alert and we’ll notify you when your unbilled charges go over the amount you’ve set.

We’ll email your first fortnightly bill two weeks after the date your switch to Electric Kiwi completed. If you would prefer to receive your bill each week or each month you can update your billing cycle at any time by simply logging into your online account or app and selecting the “Update when you pay” button.

To keep our electricity prices low, bills can only be received via email to the email address specified for your account.

Your bill will more than likely be higher because you have used more electricity. You are charged based on the amount of electricity used per month/fortnight/week depending on your billing cycle. In general, you will use more electricity in the winter months than summer, so your bill will be higher during these times. If you would like to understand your electricity usage more, log in to your Electric Kiwi account at any time to see your daily usage. If you’re still unsure, just contact us.

Take a quick look at our contact us page for an overview of how to get in touch.

No worries! Just log in to your Electric Kiwi account on the website or with our app to find your payments history. You can download any of your previous bills at any time. Otherwise just contact us and we’ll help you out.

Electric Kiwi does not currently offer a smooth pay option, instead our customers have the choice to pay for their electricity on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.

Customers also have the flexibility to set the day that they pay, please check our payment options for more information.

We know you like to manage your expenses, so here’s some great ways to help keep your account under control and on budget:

Make instant payments to add credit to your account

You can add credit to your account any time you like. When your account is in credit, any positive balance will go towards paying your next bill. Use your Bank Account or Credit/Debit card to make an instant payment. Instant payments incur a 1.5% surcharge to use a Credit/Debit Card or 1% surcharge for Bank Account instant payments.

Bill Alert notifications

We’ll track your bill every day and should it exceed the threshold you set before it’s due we’ll let you know so you can keep an eye on your usage.

You can also choose when you pay by selecting when the money leaves your account, on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. For example, if you get paid fortnightly on Wednesday, you can choose your payments to be taken every fortnight on Thursdays when the money has cleared your account. Read more about our payment options here.

At Electric Kiwi, we have a simple way for you to keep your balance positive.

The Stay Ahead payment option is available on our Kiwi and MoveMaster plans. In the app or online account, simply activate Stay Ahead and set the top-up amount. You can turn off the Stay Ahead option whenever it suits you.

If you choose to turn Stay Ahead on, your account will top-up automatically when your balance reaches $0.00. You set the top-up amount at $50 or greater and we do the rest.

Stay Ahead has the added benefit of zero fees (that’s right - no surcharges!) across both direct debit and credit card payments.

Read more about our payment options including Instant Payments and our flexible weekly, fortnightly or monthly options.

If you’re interested in always keeping your balance in credit, we also have the Prepay 300 price plan. On this plan your account will top-up $300 automatically when your balance reaches $0. For more info see plans.

Previously, households and businesses in the King Country and Ruapehu area received two bills each month relating to their electricity (one from The Lines Company and one from their chosen retailer).

The Lines Company has decided that line charges will now be included in the rates on the bill you receive from your electricity retailer. So if you’re a customer with us, from October 2021 you’ll see this reflected on your Electric Kiwi invoice.

To find out more about this please check out The Lines Company website.

Once you’ve received your final invoice we will automatically organise a refund of your credit balance to your card on file.

To see what support options are available check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.

Smart meter

Think of a smart meter as a virtual meter reader. It records the actual amount of electricity you use every half hour, and the data is sent to us once per day using similar technology to text messaging.

This data transmission occurs for a very short period of time (around 1 second) during the middle of the night and occurs at a very low wattage. This is much lower than the average household’s use of cellphone or wifi networks.

Electric Kiwi collects your daily electricity usage information straight from your smart meter, so most of the time we’ll never need to estimate your electricity usage. This means your bill will always be accurate and you’ll never pay for more than what you actually used.

On a rare occasion, there may be a communication failure between the smart meter at your property and the centralised location where we retrieve your usage data. In the unlikely event we can’t retrieve the data by the time you are due to be invoiced, we will do our best in the background to get this resolved – and often will contact you directly to advise.

If, after multiple solutions have been attempted, we are still unable to resolve, we calculate an estimate using a method approved by the New Zealand Electricity Authority.

If you wish to find out more about estimates, please contact us.

We don’t need access to your property to read your smart meter. Your actual usage will be sent to us each day electronically. This is through similar technology as your phone uses to send a text message.

Electric Kiwi aims to offer its customers the lowest priced electricity possible. The extra information provided by smart meters allows Electric Kiwi customers to choose 60 minutes of off-peak electricity to suit their lifestyle; they receive that one Hour of Power free each and every day.

You’d need to have a smart meter installed to be with us, as it’s needed to be able to get your half hourly usage electronically, and for you to be able to select the free hour of off-peak power each day.

There’s currently a national roll out of smart meters underway, around of 80% Kiwi homes now have smart meters installed. Unfortunately we can’t upgrade meters as these are owned separately by metering companies. It’s up to these companies when an upgrade will take place but hopefully shouldn’t be too far away!

It might pay to check in with your current power company and they should be able to give you an idea when you can expect your current meter to be replaced.

Once you do have one installed, be sure to get in touch to see what great rates we can offer.

The quickest way to find out whether you have a smart meter is to enter your address here. If you don’t have a smart meter you’ll see a message explaining you’re unable to join Electric Kiwi until one is installed.

Moving house

If you are moving into a new place, Electric Kiwi can make sure that electricity is connected at your new house when you arrive. While joining Electric Kiwi just let us know your move in date, and we’ll take care of the rest.

For current customers, just log into your app or online account and use the moving house option, that way we can get everything sorted in the background – and you can focus on the important things, like moving house!

Outages

If your power is out, it’s best to get in touch with your local lines company, whose contact details can be found here.

Otherwise you can quickly find the relevant contact details for your address in the Electric Kiwi app under More > Support > Outages.

If for any reason the lines company aren’t able to help and think the issue may be to do with your property rather than the lines, call our faults team on 0800 THE KIWI (843 5494) - select option zero.

If your broadband isn’t currently working as expected, head over to our dedicated fibre outages page.

You’ll be able to check for any outages in your area, and run through some troubleshooting steps to get back up and running if needed.

Rates and Pricing

We saw a gap for a power company that could use technology to make electricity simpler.

We’re all about doing our best to make sure every day Kiwis receive the best deal possible for their power. We do everything online (no paper bills, no big call centre) and we have a relatively small team so our overheads are lower. Our aim is to pass those cost savings onto our customers!

Another big part of how we do this is having a team fully dedicated to forecasting electricity prices, and buying power off the market ahead of time. This helps us keep our prices both as low and consistent as possible.

The best way to find out power prices for your property is to enter your address.

Electric Kiwi want to make it easy for you, no complicated discounts or hidden costs. All pricing is upfront and it’ll show you both the inclusive and exclusive GST rates for easy comparison.

Electric Kiwi provides the lowest cost electricity possible to our customers. Delivering electricity to a property incurs network, metering and regulatory charges plus the cost of the electricity itself. As an electricity retailer, Electric Kiwi pay all these costs on behalf of our customers.

The largest proportion of these costs are network charges. These are Government regulated and change each year on the 1st of April.

If Electric Kiwi adjust rates, we’ll give existing customers plenty of notice and be clear about the reason for the change. Don’t worry, sometimes a rate change may mean your rates go down. Electric Kiwi will pass any savings directly to you when we can!

To ensure we have your payment details correct, when your switch to Electric Kiwi goes through we’ll deduct $4.99 from your account the next business day. But don’t worry! This isn’t a payment or a fee - we credit the $4.99 back on your first bill.

Credit/debit card companies charge us a fee for each transaction. To keep our electricity prices low, credit/debit card payments incur a 1.5% surcharge on top of your bill. We recommend Direct Debit using your bank account details (rather than a card) or Stay Ahead as there is no additional surcharge for these options.

Yes, there might be. Check out our service fees page for more details.

Yes, if you are the account holder when the dividend or discount is calculated, you will continue to receive the annual payment or cheque for the following:

Note: if you are on the Aurora, Eastland Network, Horizon, Nelson Electricity, Orion, PowerCo, or United Wellington Electricity networks they will not provide any dividends or discounts to Electric Kiwi customers.

No. When you sign up to Electric Kiwi, we search the Electricity Authority's nationwide database to determine what set up you have. You'll automatically be allocated the rates we have for your property.

Controlled supply means that there is a separate electricity supply to your hot water cylinder which your lines company can switch off for short periods during the day. The lines company passes on a reduction in your bill when you allow appliances to be switched off, regardless of whether the supply is ever turned off or not.

We do! All of our plans offer time-of-use pricing, with cheaper rates during off-peak times.

These plans incentivise our customers to shift their load off-peak and save. Carbon emissions from electricity generation are generally higher during peak periods. So by moving power off-peak you're more likely to be using cleaner generation sources and can save money too!

We think “Prompt Payment Discount” is just a sneaky way of saying Late Payment Fee. In our view, these “discounts” are a trick used to confuse customers to make it sound like you’re getting a deal when all you are doing is paying your bill when it’s due.

When we compare our rates, we assume that you always paid on time and always got your discount. Rather than increasing our rates and then adding a discount to make the rate sound better, we build the discount into our rate and keep things simple by offering you low prices up front.

This means the price you see is the price you pay. As well as that, with our daily free hour of off-peak power our customers save, on average, a further 9.2% on their bills, with some saving more than 30%.

If you check out our plans page, you can see all the great options we currently have on offer.

The best way to find out how much you can save with Electric Kiwi is to calculate your savings by entering details from a recent bill. Otherwise fire us through a bill with your current provider as an attachment on live chat and the team will do a comparison for you.

Consumer Powerswitch is a free and independent energy price comparison site. You can visit Powerswitch to check you’re on the right plan for your needs.

The Low User plan is generally the best option if you use less than 8,000 kWh per year. If you use more than 8,000 kWh per year (or more than 9,000 kWh in the lower South Island) then a Standard User plan will work out cheaper in the long run. But the choice is yours.

Many customers in the Mainpower network region, which covers North Canterbury from Kaiapoi to Kaikoura (including Rangiora and Hanmer Springs), receive a rebate for all usage. This rebate is automatically applied to your account via your usage charges. This means that customers in both the Mainpower network area and in the old Kaiapoi Electricity network area effectively pay the same overall rates for their usage.

About the MoveMaster plan

The MoveMaster plan is all about moving power to save. By moving your power usage to off-peak you can reduce your impact on the environment and Kiwi infrastructure and save money too.

On this plan you will get three rates: peak, off-peak shoulder, and off-peak night. You’ll get better rates for electricity used during off-peak shoulder periods and half price rates during off-peak night. Rates for electricity used during peak times will higher.

The timeframes for each rate are:
Peak: 7am-9am and 5pm-9pm
Off-peak shoulder: 9am-5pm and 9pm-11pm
Off-peak night: 11pm-7am

MoveMaster also has our best solar buyback rate of 12.5c/kWh.

Will I still get an Hour of Power?

Like all Electric Kiwi customers, on the MoveMaster plan you will get an hour of free off-peak power every day. You can choose your free hour during off-peak shoulder or off-peak night, whichever works best for you.

How could this this plan help me save carbon?

Carbon emissions from electricity generation are generally higher during peak periods. During peak times, there is high demand and not enough electricity to go around, so additional dirtier generation sources often kick on to meet the increased demand on the grid.

During off-peaks there is less demand for electricity, meaning renewables are usually able to meet more of the supply required by the grid. So during off-peaks, the electricity you use is more likely to come from renewable sources.

By moving power off-peak you're more likely to be using cleaner generation sources and can save money too.

Is MoveMaster right for me?

This plan is great if you have an electric vehicle, rooftop solar, larger appliances you can run overnight when you power is half price, or if you can set an automated timer on some of your appliances.

It’s also great for anyone who is willing and able to move some of their electricity usage that doesn't need to be done during peaks. Things like washing, drying clothes, running the dishwasher, or heating up the electric blanket. Check out our blog for more tips on becoming a master mover.

We made the decision to change of all our power plans to what's often referred to as "time-of-use" pricing. This basically means different power prices at certain times of day, and cheaper prices at off-peak times.

A few minor tweaks to your power habits and shifting usage off-peak can result in cheaper bills. The more you move off-peak the more you can save!

Load shifting is our new secret weapon which can help both your wallet, and the planet.

By shifting your power usage to off-peak hours, you can reduce the strain on New Zealand's power grid by tapping into energy sources that are both cheaper, and likely cleaner.

Our load shifting page is a great place to find more details, plus some epic tips to help you save.

Electricity Supply

If your power is out, it’s best to get in touch with your local lines company, whose contact details can be found here.

Otherwise you can quickly find the relevant contact details for your address in the Electric Kiwi app under More > Support > Outages.

If for any reason the lines company aren’t able to help and think the issue may be to do with your property rather than the lines, call our faults team on 0800 THE KIWI (843 5494) - select option zero.

Electric Kiwi’s electricity is delivered to your home on the same electricity grid the big guys use and is generated by the same power stations. The reliability of your electricity supply doesn’t change whether you are with Electric Kiwi or another retailer.

You can definitely be with us if you have your own solar generation at home. You’ll only pay for the additional electricity you use in your home outside of what you have generated. On our MoveMaster plan you'll get a 12.5c/kWh buyback rate for excess electricity that’s exported to the grid, or 8c/kWh on our other plans (excluding GST).

All Electric Kiwi plans offer a solar buyback rate. You'll get a 12.5c/kWh buyback rate on our MoveMaster plan or 8c/kWh on our other plans (excluding GST). This will automatically be added to your account if a solar register is connected at your property.

Sometimes due to either a planned or unplanned electricity outage, you may lose power at your property. Often these interruptions can be momentary, but they can be for a longer period of time, depending on what caused the outage. The lines companies work to fix these outages as soon as possible.

If your power is out, it’s best to get in touch with your local lines company, whose contact details can be found here.

If for any reason the lines company aren’t able to help and think the issue may be to do with your property rather than the lines, call our faults team on 0800 THE KIWI (843 5494) - select option zero.

When an outage happens, it can cause fluctuations in your electricity supply that may interfere with sensitive electronic equipment. Surge protectors and an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) device can help protect your electronic equipment. As well as this, houses can be fitted with residual current devices and isolating transformers to minimise damage. During an outage, turn off your electronics to minimise the risk of damage once the power turns on. Insurance to cover you for loss or damage due to electricity supply interruptions or fluctuations is also a good idea, just in case.

At this stage, Electric Kiwi can’t install new smart meters or create a new connection through your local lines company. That means if you have recently built a home, or are conducting renovations that require a ‘new electricity connection’ you’ll need to sign up with another power company first.

If you already have a smart meter installed and operating with another power company today, then you’re good to go right now.

If in doubt, just drop us a line.

Broadband

If your broadband isn’t currently working as expected, head over to our dedicated fibre outages page.

You’ll be able to check for any outages in your area, and run through some troubleshooting steps to get back up and running if needed.

Head over to our dedicated broadband page.

You’ll find some general info, as well as some more-in depth broadband FAQ’s and pages.

At Electric Kiwi we want to do right by our customers. If you have an issue we’ll always do our very best to sort it out as quickly as we can, so please get in touch if you have a problem.

Free and independent services are available for any unresolved complaints.

  • For broadband:
    You can contact Telecommunication Dispute Resolution on 0508 98 98 98 or at www.tdr.org.nz.
  • For electricity:
    You can contact Utilities Disputes on 0800 22 33 40 or www.udl.co.nz.