Have you tried www.powerswitch.org.nz?

Flick Electric. Best power company, and best power company with no contract. Also the cheapest power company.

Any power company - it depends on your local pricing really.  Ask them for a non-contract price should be very much similar to on contract really.   If they refuse, then focus on Powershop or Flick.

nigelj: Any power company - it depends on your local pricing really.

Indeed. Sometimes the difference between areas can be sustantial. Also note that Powershop and Flick are not available in all areas.

timmmay:

 

Flick Electric. Best power company, and best power company with no contract. Also the cheapest power company.

 

Another one for Flick Electric. They're great!

michaelmurfy:

 

timmmay:

 

Flick Electric. Best power company, and best power company with no contract. Also the cheapest power company.

 

 

Another one for Flick Electric. They're great!

 

Few months back I extracted my hour by hour usage with Powershop for a month, and asked my friend who is with Flick to give me his hourly prices for the same month.

Turned out that for that month I would pay about 5% more if I were with Flick. That persuaded me to stay with Powershop for now.

zespri:

 

michaelmurfy:

 

timmmay:

 

Flick Electric. Best power company, and best power company with no contract. Also the cheapest power company.

 

 

Another one for Flick Electric. They're great!

 

 

Few months back I extracted my hour by hour usage with Powershop for a month, and asked my friend who is with Flick to give me his hourly prices for the same month.

 

Turned out that for that month I would pay about 5% more if I were with Flick. That persuaded me to stay with Powershop for now.

 

It depends on how you use your power. For me, it works out an average of 4c/unit + their fees etc equates to $100 per month when I was spending $340 per month with Trustpower before. Sure, there are spikes but these happen rarely and I am still saving a pretty hefty chunk of coin.

In Dunedin I'm about to change try electric kiwi - prices seem similar (maybe cheaper??) to flick overall but they offer a flat rate (17c/KWh in Dunedin)

Their "hour of free power" (must be off peak) works out as a about 6% discount for me even if I don't timeshift my usage (eg move dishwasher, washing maching to run during free hour).

Like flick you need a smart meter.

Current on a very cheap fixed price with Contact Energy, but that finishes soon and they are trying to give me a 25% price rice - time to move

zespri:

 

 

 

Few months back I extracted my hour by hour usage with Powershop for a month, and asked my friend who is with Flick to give me his hourly prices for the same month.

 

Turned out that for that month I would pay about 5% more if I were with Flick. That persuaded me to stay with Powershop for now.

 

Flick might not be cheapest for everyone, especially people who use a lot of peak energy. A few basics changes can change that equation - run the dishwasher and clothes drier at 2am on a timer, put hot water on a timer, and use a timer to heat your house from 4pm when power is a bit cheaper rather than during the 5:30 - 7pm peak. None of those things are particularly difficult to do.

michaelmurfy:

 

It depends on how you use your power. For me, it works out an average of 4c/unit + their fees etc equates to $100 per month when I was spending $340 per month with Trustpower before. Sure, there are spikes but these happen rarely and I am still saving a pretty hefty chunk of coin.

 

Where in the country are you? How are you achieving those gains? 4c/unit is exceptionally low, and your savings of 70% or so is so far above the norm it should probably be considered an anomaly. I'm at about 25% savings over a regular power company, I've changed a few habits but nothing major. Flick says most people save 14% if they change to Flick with no change of habits. The past few days my average price is around 12 - 13c per unit, inc GST.

KrazyKid:

 

In Dunedin I'm about to change try electric kiwi - prices seem similar (maybe cheaper??) to flick overall but they offer a flat rate (17c/KWh in Dunedin)

 

Their "hour of free power" (must be off peak) works out as a about 6% discount for me even if I don't timeshift my usage (eg move dishwasher, washing maching to run during free hour).

 

Like flick you need a smart meter.

 

Current on a very cheap fixed price with Contact Energy, but that finishes soon and they are trying to give me a 25% price rice - time to move

 

I think I'm in the same boat as you (in Palmerston North, though).  Contact signed me up to a 12 month contract with nice low prices, but now that's come to an end, and their "normal" prices are much higher.  I'm trying to use Powerswitch to find a cheaper alternative, but it's not particularly easy to find specific rates (as opposed to their calculator)...

timmmay:

 

 

 

Flick might not be cheapest for everyone, especially people who use a lot of peak energy. A few basics changes can change that equation - run the dishwasher and clothes drier at 2am on a timer, put hot water on a timer, and use a timer to heat your house from 4pm when power is a bit cheaper rather than during the 5:30 - 7pm peak.

 

timmmay, where do you see the peak prices across a typical day? I've done a hunt around but cant find a nice graph.

Does this help?

Then add the published base flick price.

Maybe someone has a better breakdown, but this seems easy to understand and I assume is accurate enough as an average daily price.

I just switched over to Pulse energy. They have decent rates for a low usage household (2 people). I would be saving about 5-10% compared to Contact. But I will give them a try for 2 months and see how it is. 

tchart:

 

 

 

timmmay, where do you see the peak prices across a typical day? I've done a hunt around but cant find a nice graph.

 

Winter peak is 5:15pm or 5:30 to around 6:30pm, plus a smaller peak occasionally in the morning but time varies. Many days there's no real peak, it depends on demand (weather) and supply. 

Here's a few of my usage graphs. This is what is most common, 80% of the time. Note the 2am usage spike is my, which is when hot water heating is set to kick in, and dishwasher often runs around the same time.

Here's an evening peak, which are maybe 10% of the time at the moment, though maybe a bit more in the deep winter. Last year this kind of peak was maybe 40% of the time in June, with bigger peaks 5% of the time, but most often pretty steady. It just means heat the house up at 4:30 not 5:30.

This is a once or twice a year peak.