Moving power providers

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Moving power providers

rb99

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#315991 5-Sep-2024 14:30

Don't think this counts a wealth management, but anyway, do you folks bother moving power providers much ?

We've never bothered to move, but seeing as Nova have decided to remove any perks from those of us who dare to use them for only electricity and not their bundle / we've got you now plans, d'you find its worth it ? One of the cheaper alternatives is apparently about $300pa cheaper. Do you find if you move to save, you actually end up making actual real life savings ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

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#3279293 5-Sep-2024 14:38

I'll run our powerbill from time to time through powerswitch, still keeps coming up with our existing provider (Genesis) as the cheapest but this will differ area to area I suspect.

rb99

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#3279294 5-Sep-2024 14:46

Well, the one I was looking at is Frank Energy, which is owned by...Genesis.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

Behodar

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#3279296 5-Sep-2024 14:57

For what it's worth, I switched from Trustpower to Frank about a year ago for a saving of maybe $10/month, although Frank put its prices up last month so who knows...

rb99

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#3279299 5-Sep-2024 15:02

Well, as hinted at, Frank claims 30 per month cheaper, but in real life....

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

Aucklandjafa

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#3279302 5-Sep-2024 15:15

Contact is on par with Frank, but in addition offer free weekends (9am to 5pm) if you have a smart meter

rb99

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#3279303 5-Sep-2024 15:30

I'll have a look but according to Powerswitch Frank is about 300pa cheaper than Contact, depending on what I've told them I guess. Garbage in, garbage out...

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

KiwiSurfer

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#3279310 5-Sep-2024 15:34

Did my own calculations recently and Frank came out second cheapest, however they were the cheapest no-contract/flat rate/etc plan so switched over to them recently.

For those interested the cheapest was Contact's Good Weekend plan. However as that is a Time Of Use plan with a saving of only $1 or so based on our actual usage it seemed safer to stick with a flat rate plan. It was also notable that the most expensive plan for our usage was one of Contact's other Time of Use plans -- showing time of use plans can be a double edged sword.

The move process itself was easy. Joined online Thursday evening, move request acknowledged Friday morning, Mercury sent final bill Saturday, and by Monday I could log into Frank's system and see usage dating back to Saturday. Couldn't have gone any easier IMHO.

Predicted power bill so far is substantially cheaper than Mercury and on par with the projections generated by my home-built script that calculated prices based on our actual hourly/daily usage.

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rb99

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#3279320 5-Sep-2024 16:17

Sounds promising. Luckily I can prevaricate like there's no tomorrow, so at best I won't be doing anything till after the weekend.

I guess there's still no easy way to check the readings from the smart meter we have installed ? Believe the smart bits are for the power companies benefit, not ours ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

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#3279322 5-Sep-2024 16:20

..though now that I look, the Frank phone app monitors daily usage ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

Aaron2222

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#3279323 5-Sep-2024 16:23

rb99:

..though now that I look, the Frank phone app monitors daily usage ?

Yeah, most providers provide some way to look at the data, though there might be a delay of a couple of days. It'll depend on the provider as to what methods they provide to let you get at it (but being able to view it online or on an apps should be fairly universal).

KiwiSurfer

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#3279324 5-Sep-2024 16:23

rb99:

..though now that I look, the Frank phone app monitors daily usage ?

The info I get from Frank is the same as what I got from Mercury -- monthly/daily/hourly -- although I do prefer Frank's UX.

rb99

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#3279326 5-Sep-2024 16:33

And I see Nova have an app as well. Who knew...

Edit - got a lot more one star reviews though.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

invisibleman18

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#3279334 5-Sep-2024 17:09

As mentioned already, the switching process is easy. Just sign up with the new one and they sort it all.

Not really answering the original question but gives an excuse to post my experience. We were previously with Genesis and switched to Powershop about 3-4 years ago. Used to make use of the occasional free period Genesis would give you and we got one of a few hours which we thought we had booked for a Sunday afternoon. Blasted everything (heater, washing, dryer, dehumidifier, oven for meal prep etc) then a few days later once the usage updated on the app it allocated it to the Friday when we were out at work so nothing got used other than the standard $1 or so an afternoon with noone home might cost (the Sunday afternoon we thought we were using it was about $17).

Jumped on their live chat and asked if it could be corrected as our usage clearly showed when we thought we were using it and when noone was home and got told we must have booked it for the Friday and it can't be changed. Threatened to move companies in that case as I'd had a couple of quotes (which was true) and they said "sorry you feel that way but it's been allocated to the day you chose." I'd been trying to get my now wife (then partner) to switch to Powershop who I'd previously been happy with before we lived together but she had a thing about not wanting to change from providers she'd always been with and who her parents always used. It was the "sorry you feel that way" comment that flicked the switch for her that you don't have to stay loyal to companies as they don't care about you. For the sake of a $17 credit they lost a long term customer who'd have probably stayed for life.

vexxxboy

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#3279335 5-Sep-2024 17:17

I switched from Pulse to frank but after they mucked up my bill both months and the hassle it took to correct it, they kept putting someone else's payments on my account and losing my internet banking payments, i switched to Flick couldnt be happier , i pay weekly and save over $80 a month from moving from Pulse and $10 a month from Frank.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

caffynz

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#3279406 5-Sep-2024 22:56

You could always send one of your recent power bill that includes kWh used etc. to any of the companies you're considering, for them to work out how much you'd pay if you were with them.
That's what I did last year or so, and subsequently moved to Flick - a lot cheaper.

Initially we picked the flat rate plan, but Flick checks every 90 days your time of usage to check you're on the right plan - and told us we're better off on the off peak/on peak plan. Even cheaper bill!

Anyway - the whole process of switching was seamless - done within days.

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