Join for power
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. More info is also available here.
Three great plans, all flexible, fair and designed to save you money. All with no contracts. The right one for you depends on how you use power and how you like to manage your account.
> Everyday
Perfect if you want to keep things simple. You pay the same flat rate all day, every day, so there's no need to think about when you use power. Just flip the switch and go. You still get a free hour of off-peak power every day, plus solar buy back at 9c/kWh.
> MoveMaster
Great if you're a night owl, an EV owner, or happy to shift some of your power use to off-peak times to save more. You'll get cheaper rates on weekdays between 9am and 5pm and 9pm and 7am, plus weekends between 7am and 11pm. Even better, rates are half price overnight from 11pm to 7am. You also get a higher solar buy back rate of 23c/kWh at peak and 11.5c/kWh off-peak, plus your free hour of off-peak power every day.
> Sunday Saver
Ideal if you want one day a week where you just switch everything on and don't worry about the bill. You must bundle Sunday Saver with one of our broadband or mobile plans to unlock free power all day every Sunday for your first 12 months. You'll also get cheaper off-peak rates on weekdays and Saturdays, your daily free hour of off-peak power, and solar buy back at 9c/kWh. This plan works on an advance payment basis, with an automatic $250 top up whenever your balance hits zero.
Not sure which plan is right for you?
Head to our plans page for more details, or chat with the team and we'll help you figure out the best fit for your household.
Hour of Power/loadshifting
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. All electricity used during that hour each day is free! So go ahead, put on the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher all at once - it's on the house.
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.
HOP is designed to give you full control over when you use your free hour each day.
Because the idea is to plan your usage around the time you choose, we're unable to update this after the fact. You can change your HOP anytime in the app right up until midnight, and whatever hour you select will be recorded for that day.
What if I had an issue with the app when trying to update my HOP?
If you’ve run into any issues updating your HOP in the app, let us know and we’ll take a look into it and help get things sorted. The sooner you reach out, the sooner we can help.
Want to change your Hour of Power using Kiwi Central? Here's how:
- On the app, go to the Power tab on the left side of the screen to see your current Hour of Power at the top. (On the browser version, you'll find it under the Home tab in the Power section.)
- Tap the hour or the pencil icon above it.
- Pick a new hour from the off-peak time options (any greyed out times aren't available).
- When you are happy with your choice tap the tick to save, or the cross to cancel the change - easy as!
Any change before midnight will be active for that day. For more info, check out our dedicated Hour of Power page.
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.
If you are on one of Electric Kiwi's time of use plans, the more power usage you move off-peak the more you can save.
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, your first point of contact should be your local lines company. You can find their contact details on our power outages page, or quickly look them up in the Electric Kiwi app under More > Support > Outages.
There are a few other reasons your power may be out:
Disconnection for Non-payment If the property was disconnected due to an unpaid bill (with us or a previous retailer), we will confirm what is needed to get you reconnected, just drop us a line on chat.
Incorrect Address Sign-up If you accidentally signed up the wrong address, the property may have remained with a different provider and been disconnected for vacancy. If this is the case, reach out to us ASAP and we will update your account and arrange reconnection.
Mains Switch Sometimes the power is off simply because the mains switch has been turned off at the property. It is worth double checking your switchboard to make sure everything is switched on.
Vacant Property Disconnection If you have just moved in and the property was vacant, it may have been disconnected by the previous retailer or by Electric Kiwi. If so, give us a buzz and we can arrange a reconnection for you.
If your lines company is unable to help and believes the issue may be related to your property rather than the lines, and the above scenarios don't apply to you, please call our faults team on 0800 THE KIWI (843 5494) and select option zero.
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.
Some lines companies, such as Northpower and Vector, provide annual dividends to customers connected to their network. When we receive your dividend, we automatically apply it as a credit to your Electric Kiwi account. The timing and amount are set by your lines company, not by us, so both can vary from year to year.
- If you haven't seen a credit yet, it's likely we haven't received it from your lines company. We're happy to check the status for you.
- If you'd prefer the credit to be refunded rather than applied to future charges, we can arrange that. Just note that our standard refund fee applies.
- If your account is closed, we may not be able to receive the dividend on your behalf, or we may need to return it to your lines company. In that case, you'll need to contact them directly. If you need help finding their contact details, just let us know.
Green Initiatives
Yes, Electric Kiwi offers solar buy back rates on the three plans we currently offer: MoveMaster, Everyday, and Sunday Saver.
- MoveMaster: 23c/kWh peak and 11.5c/kWh off-peak* buy back rates (including GST).
- Everyday & Sunday Saver: 9.2c/kWh buy back rate throughout the day (including GST).
*Off-peak solar buy-back applies from 9am–5pm and 9pm–7am on weekdays, and all day on weekends.
If you have solar panels, you can take advantage of these buy back rates by choosing one of these plans. Check out our solar page more info.
Smart Meter
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.
Just joined us? Don't worry if your usage doesn't look quite right in the first week or two after making the switch. When you first sign up, your usage may be based on estimates while we wait for the previous provider at the property to send us your final meter reads.
During this time, your app may show the same usage figure each day rather than your actual consumption. Once we receive your confirmed reads, your account will be fully reconciled and corrected before your first invoice - so you'll only ever pay for your actual usage. Your first invoice is always issued a fortnight after joining us to ensure this. From then on, you can also expect to see your actual usage and Hour of Power savings reflected in the app.
Existing Electric Kiwi customer? 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.
Around 80% of Kiwi homes now have smart meters installed and they continue to be rolled out. 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.
Cant find what you need?
Search for more topics below.
For connection issues head over to our outages page.