Electricity plan shopping

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#3007059 7-Dec-2022 20:56

HarmLessSolutions:

Has anybody had experience with PowerEdge ? Their solar buy back rate of 20c/kWh on their 'Power Shield' plan seems good but there's a suspicious lack of supply prices on their website.

The reply I received back from PowerEdge after they'd seen my enquiry and Ecotricity account:

"Thanks for your approach

You are currently on competitive rates that we cannot improve on

Have a good day"

All good. Job done.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

eonsim

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#3014565 28-Dec-2022 13:37

Just switched to Octopus, with the ~25% price increase from EK on 1st Jan they've moved some slightly cheaper to noticeably cheaper...

As much as I like EK, the higher rates are just a bit to much...

timmmay

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#3014570 28-Dec-2022 14:24

Good point @eonsim it's worth looking around. I asked EK if they could do anything about prices, they said no.

I used PowerSwitch to get the rates, then checked them on the vendor websites. I worked out prices based on the 30 minute charging for the past year:

EK MoveMaster: $4536
Octopus: $3970
Mercury: $3442 - 16c/kwh inc GST / levy any time, prices fixed for two years, $150 exit fee

Can anyone think why Mercury wouldn't be a good choice? Good rate, fixed for 2 years is great because power's going to keep going up, don't care about exit fee. Having the same price 24/7 would of course be more convenient.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3014573 28-Dec-2022 14:31

timmmay:

Good point @eonsim it's worth looking around. I asked EK if they could do anything about prices, they said no.

I used PowerSwitch, with prices based on one years actual usage and current rates:

EK MoveMaster: $4536
Octopus: $3970
Mercury: $3442 - 16c/kwh any time, prices fixed for two years, $150 exit fee)
Can anyone think why Mercury wouldn't be a good choice? Good rate, fixed for 2 years is great because power's going to keep going up, don't care about exit fee.

Not enough consumption detail. Owning an EV (using off peak charging), and PV buy back tariffs are both relevant if you have those, and Powerswitch have no functionality to input these factors so has very poor pricing accuracy on this basis.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

Rushmere

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#3014574 28-Dec-2022 14:31

timmmay:

Good point @eonsim it's worth looking around. I asked EK if they could do anything about prices, they said no.

I used PowerSwitch, with prices based on one years actual usage and current rates:

EK MoveMaster: $4536
Octopus: $3970
Mercury: $3442 - 16c/kwh any time, prices fixed for two years, $150 exit fee)
Can anyone think why Mercury wouldn't be a good choice? Good rate, fixed for 2 years is great because power's going to keep going up, don't care about exit fee.

I switched from EK Movemaster to Mercury a couple of weeks ago.

The switch went smoothly, and I'm not seeing any downside yet.

The cost is lower for me, plus I no longer need to shift power usage off-peak, and I'm finding it massively more convenient being able to use power when I want to rather than constantly deferring usage until a cheaper time.

There's also $250 credit at the moment if you sign up for 2 years, so it seems like a very good deal.

Rushmere

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#3014576 28-Dec-2022 14:35

HarmLessSolutions:

timmmay:

Good point @eonsim it's worth looking around. I asked EK if they could do anything about prices, they said no.

I used PowerSwitch, with prices based on one years actual usage and current rates:

EK MoveMaster: $4536
Octopus: $3970
Mercury: $3442 - 16c/kwh any time, prices fixed for two years, $150 exit fee)
Can anyone think why Mercury wouldn't be a good choice? Good rate, fixed for 2 years is great because power's going to keep going up, don't care about exit fee.

Not enough consumption detail. Owning an EV (using off peak charging), and PV buy back tariffs are both relevant if you have those, and Powerswitch have no functionality to input these factors so has very poor pricing accuracy on this basis.

Yes, I also find that Powerswitch is inaccurate for my usage.

I use my actual 30 minute metering data (which all power retailers must provide on request) to do my own comparison, and for me, Mercury was the cheapest.

michaelmurfy

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#3014577 28-Dec-2022 14:37

Mercury was one of the more expensive options for me. I'm yet to get my first bill with Octopus yet but they've been very smooth sailing so far.

Meridian were not too bad but I like to stick with companies who just give you up-front cheaper rates instead of locking you into a contract.

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eonsim

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#3014579 28-Dec-2022 14:45

@timmmay So those Mercury prices are excl GST (~19c with) and there is the electricity levy on top of that. Running the numbers for our usage Mercury works out to be much the same as EK after the price rise and ~20% more expensive than Octopus for our usage. If I normalize costs through out the day and include the levy (for 2 weeks of use in October) then per kWh the costs are $0.147 (Oct), $0.187 (EK new), $0.191 (Merc), and that's ignoring Octo's lower per day charge and $0.17 credit for our spare solar.

Looking at the last 6 months usage broken down by hour, Mercury rates in Hamilton are ~$500 worse than Octo or the EK price we paid, and about $60 worse than the new EK rates. We time shift a lot of energy use with a spa, plug-in hybrid and swimming pool, and have solar so off peak rates work rather well for us compared to flat rate charges.

timmmay

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#3014585 28-Dec-2022 14:49

Thanks for the thoughts all. I did the calculation based on my 30 minute consumption data for the past year for three power companies. Mercury is $0.1580054/kwh including GST and 2% discount, and yeah $250 switching credit plus some reward offers. Unless they're horrible to deal with I'll probably move to them.

timmmay

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#3014586 28-Dec-2022 15:28

Switch to Mercury done. $0.16c/kwh 24/7 sounds much more convenient, though I'll probably keep quite a bit of use off peak as it reduces the need to build new generation.

michaelmurfy

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#3014588 28-Dec-2022 15:42

I actually wonder how many customer Electric Kiwi lost with their latest price rise. For me, it was quite substantial and think it is because I used a whole lot of free power. They're not too transparent with pricing either I found.

I do understand pricing going up but free hour aside (which was 15-20% for me) I'm saving nearly 50% with Octopus now and don't have to worry about gaming my power use.

billgates

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#3014591 28-Dec-2022 15:56

How does Mercury prices up so wildly between their 2-year contract and open term deal across different regions? I get it that different line network regions have different pricing for same plan with the same electricity retailer, but I have never seen an electricity retailer provide better pricing for 2-year contract in one region and not another compared to the open term deal. I stuck a random Wellington home address in Mercury's website to get the rates there which is in the first screenshot. The second screenshot is of our home in Cambridge. Cambridge residents pay the same anytime rate regardless of open term or 2-year contract compared to Wellington.

Do whatever you want to do man.

timmmay

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#3014596 28-Dec-2022 16:20

The first screenshot is the offer for my address in the Wellington suburbs, $0.1391/kwh. When I put in the address of two of my neighbors to the south in I get the second screenshot, $0.1595 / kwh. When I put in the address of my neighbor to the north I get the same price as me. I wonder why I get power 2c/kwh cheaper than some of my neighbours. I wonder if it's power usage - we use a decent amount of power.

skyplonk

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#3014597 28-Dec-2022 16:21

michaelmurfy:
I actually wonder how many customer Electric Kiwi lost with their latest price rise. For me, it was quite substantial and think it is because I used a whole lot of free power. They're not too transparent with pricing either I found.

I do understand pricing going up but free hour aside (which was 15-20% for me) I'm saving nearly 50% with Octopus now and don't have to worry about gaming my power use.

We moved away from EK. Our rates went up 21% and lines charges 20%. Contact free nights was cheaper on peak, the shoulder was the same and a tad more expensive off peak. But with 3 hrs of "free power" I am doing so much more in that window, after midnight and before breakfast almost not usage now.

In Auckland, Waiuku.

billgates

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#3014598 28-Dec-2022 16:30

@timmmay see your pricing scenario is even weirder. Mercury is just taking a micky here as I have never found any other retailer, especially within the same suburb offering different prices to another customer advertised off their website.

Do whatever you want to do man.

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