Powershop - How do your specials compare?

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1061 posts

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+1 received by user: 71

#723105 26-Nov-2012 15:14

Handle9: You are comparing apples and oranges with the kwh charges, what is your line charge and what does that equate to as a per/kw rate? Powershop don't do fixed charges so it's all built into the variable rate.

When I changed from Mercury to Powershop my kwh rate went up but my overall bill went down as there are no fixed charges.

Not what we found at all, Mercury is actually cheaper even including the fixed line rate. The kwh chargers through powershop are a lot higher than what we are currently paying.

We were with powershop for over a year and when we first started it was actually a lot cheaper. Then a couple of months back received and email from Powershop saying there kwh charges were going up, they sky rocketed.

So put all my information into powerswitch and found our old provider was cheaper. They were not the cheapest but still cheaper than what Powershop were offereing.

Changed and now our monthly bill is $160-$190, compare this to $220-$260 well worth the change.

Klipspringer

2385 posts

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Inactive user

#723117 26-Nov-2012 15:34

Just did some sums ...

Specials Take advantage of these great deals (or are they really such great deals?). Todays deal is for 85 Units.

Now looking at my normal pack (The auto-purchase if I do nothing and just let powershop take care of it)

If I convert the Standard Power cost to the same 85 Units it works out to be a saving of only $1.95 (Thank you Powershop). Hardly worth the effort.

Considering that Powershop only have these specials about once a week I don't buy into the whole thing that its cheaper.

Klipspringer

2385 posts

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#723125 26-Nov-2012 16:00

Just done the numbers from http://www.powerswitch.org.nz

Suprised to see Powershop in my results with a savings, how do I switch from Powershop to Powershop LOL

Handle9

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#723129 26-Nov-2012 16:09

Lurch:
Handle9: You are comparing apples and oranges with the kwh charges, what is your line charge and what does that equate to as a per/kw rate? Powershop don't do fixed charges so it's all built into the variable rate.

When I changed from Mercury to Powershop my kwh rate went up but my overall bill went down as there are no fixed charges.

Not what we found at all, Mercury is actually cheaper even including the fixed line rate. The kwh chargers through powershop are a lot higher than what we are currently paying.

We were with powershop for over a year and when we first started it was actually a lot cheaper. Then a couple of months back received and email from Powershop saying there kwh charges were going up, they sky rocketed.

So put all my information into powerswitch and found our old provider was cheaper. They were not the cheapest but still cheaper than what Powershop were offereing.

Changed and now our monthly bill is $160-$190, compare this to $220-$260 well worth the change.

YMMV. Our experience was that our price dropped by approximately $50 per month over summer and was similar over winter.

The seasonal thing is important to factor in with powershop as their power is cheaper in summer and dearer in winter.

For example now the mercury website tells me for a low user I'd be paying a similar per unit cost to powershop but would still have fixed line costs. In winter the powershop price per unit is definitely higher than the fixed unit price providers.

haloo101

77 posts

Master Geek

#723131 26-Nov-2012 16:12

my unit price increase by 50% from Sep. Called powershop and vented. Will switch tonight...

Sep 28.87 --> Nov 44.97

Kraven

738 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 190

#723155 26-Nov-2012 16:35

BraaiGuy: Just done the numbers from http://www.powerswitch.org.nz

Suprised to see Powershop in my results with a savings, how do I switch from Powershop to Powershop LOL

BraaiGuy: I'm a low user and have learnt that not everybody gets the same prices.

(text bolded by me) Are you on the low user plan with Powershop? Looking at your annual costs from Powerswitch, you probably shouldn't be on the low user plan. Powerswitch switch is probably taking that into account and showing your savings if you switched to the regular plan. Just guessing!

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

mattgreen

133 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#723194 26-Nov-2012 17:36

juha: Auckland's North Shore:

Also North Shore... What the? How much power do you use juha?

mattwnz

20515 posts

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#723209 26-Nov-2012 18:07

When I looked at pricing, powershop and it's various resellers were more expensive in our situation. Genesis was the cheapest.
Not a fan on lower rates for higher users, becuase I thought we were meant to be encouraging powersavings. So I think either the rates should be similar, or even cheaper power if you are low power user,

Klipspringer

2385 posts

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#723244 26-Nov-2012 19:18

Kraven:
BraaiGuy: I'm a low user and have learnt that not everybody gets the same prices.

(text bolded by me) Are you on the low user plan with Powershop? Looking at your annual costs from Powerswitch, you probably shouldn't be on the low user plan. Powerswitch switch is probably taking that into account and showing your savings if you switched to the regular plan. Just guessing!

Low user as in I don't use that much power. Sorry should have worded it differently.

Powershop does not offer Power Plans, and therefore you cannot change onto a low user plan like you can with other companies.

Kraven

738 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 190

#723311 26-Nov-2012 23:05

OK so I got interested and decided to compare what we paid to Powershop over the past six months with the top two suggestions from Powerswitch (Meridian and Just Energy). I used the Unit, Daily Charge, EC Levy and discount figures provided by Powerswitch. Also bear in mind this is over the winter months, when Powershop charges their peak rates.

It turns out I'm about $14 worse off over the entire six months, based on 5826 units used over that period.

Now given that we're heading into summer and the unit prices have dropped, I'll staying with Powershop.

Elpie

1304 posts

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#723319 26-Nov-2012 23:34

Here's mine - low user Palmerston North (7227 kw for the year ended 31 October).

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

deepthought

42 posts

Geek

Trusted

Powershop

#723379 27-Nov-2012 08:08

Ari here, Powershop Chief Executive.

There are several factors that influence individual customer prices, such as: location (network costs vary markedly through out the country), configuration (eg. All inclusive versus Day/Night versus Controlled/Uncontrolled) and individual usage.

From 1 October, Powershop does have low user prices that reduce costs for low users (compared to standard users) - our low user tariffs are based on the low fixed charges (34.5c/day) prescribed in the Electricity Regulations. We do not require customers to select between the low user and standard tariffs, we will automatically select the best one (lowest cost) based on usage.

We have recently built a "Prices explained" screen which you can see here (you need to login) - https://secure.powershop.co.nz/prices/charts (if you have more than 1 property use this URL - https://secure.powershop.co.nz/properties/{property number}/prices/charts you can find your property number by going to your unit balance page - your URL will be https://secure.powershop.co.nz/properties/{property number} /unit_balance

This page shows you have the fixed daily charges contribute to your unit rates. If you were to take a bill from a traditional retail bill and take the total cost and divide it by the total units used you'd get a similar number (bearing in mind Powershop prices change seasonally). Overall, we're confident that we are competitively priced for most customers, particularly after factoring in Simple Saver and other specials, and the benefit of understanding your power usage.

mattgreen

133 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 6

#723641 27-Nov-2012 14:15

Appreciate the response Ari. It would be good to understand why Juha and I have such different rates when we're both on the North Shore and thus the same lines charges. (scroll up or click this http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=141&topicid=112087&page_no=3#723194)

Can you explain these obvious differences rather than me call your 0800 number and waste a CSR's time?:

1. Juha can purchase 120 units at the Cyber Monday special rate when I could only purchase 75. This is very odd.
2. I seem to be paying a 1.5c/unit premium on my units - how would I get his rate?

EDIT: it was 120 units vs 75.. Even worse than I initially thought...

deepthought

42 posts

Geek

Trusted

Powershop

#723656 27-Nov-2012 14:39

Matt, it pretty much comes down to usage. The Cyber Monday special was set up to be 10% of your monthly usage. If you look at https://secure.powershop.co.nz/prices/charts for you, you will see that the estimate usage we are using for you is currently 23.9 kWh/day. So 10% (let's call it 3 days) is 72 units. Without giving too much away, Juha's current usage estimate is 38.3 kWh/day. For him 3 days usage is 115 kWh.

Similar story in relation to prices. Using the above numbers and the fixed cost information in your pricing charts you should be able to explain the 1.5c/kWh price difference.

ruben999

24 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#723663 27-Nov-2012 14:53

Here mine guys....

Kapiti - Waikanae

Average user 20-30kw/d

Ari: your business is great and I have been highly recommending your service.

However lately the inconsistencies and non transparency of the power unit prices, line charges, specials, and calculations is creating a lot of confusion.

You need to keep your customers informed about calculations and prices for all available products. We will find out!

Do you have an up to date list of the lines charge prices per region?

And now the kicker..... as the lines charge is built into the individual unit price, if I then have spike in usage I will paying too much in line charges.

Is this refunded?

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