How much do you pay for power?

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Decimate

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# 35623 12-Jun-2009 15:42

With all the various discussions about mobile costs and landline costs and service, I was wanting to see how much people are paying for that other large unwanted monthly expense! Not just a general amount for how much you pay but rather, what company you're with, what you're daily rate is and what your unit/kw rate is. I've never really thought about shopping around for better power deals before, but if we're getting ripped off then why not!

I'm in Chch suburbs, Meridian Energy, 22.47c/daily line charge and 65.80c/unit

bcourtney

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# 224399 12-Jun-2009 15:50

http://www.powerswitch.org.nz

If you're not happy with what you're paying then use the above site to see if there are cheaper options in your area. Site's been around for a while now. Surprised you haven't heard of it

Decimate

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# 224418 12-Jun-2009 16:37

Ahh thats fantastic, no I hadn't heard of it at all, otherwise I wouldn't be posting here! Thanks

bcourtney

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# 224420 12-Jun-2009 16:39

no worries :) It's a great tool

mjb

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# 224425 12-Jun-2009 16:57

Whoa, at your rates, my power bill would have been well over $700... are you sure it's 65.8c/unit? we only pay 19.71c/unit here.

(granted, our line charge is almost $1/day, but it's the unit rate alone that would put us over $700)

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SepticSceptic

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# 224426 12-Jun-2009 17:00

Would aslo be interesting to note:

Do you make use of the discounts ? Wether 10%, 15% or 20 % ?

What sort of household - single, couple, or full of power-guzzling teens ?

Lots of tech gear ?

Heating arrangements - reverse cycle, electric heating, or non-electric altogether ( fire, LPG etc)

Be interesting to note, as being semi-single, occasional hordes of visiting teenagers, and an average assortment of tech gear, yet my last power bill was $181 (before 20% discount). I reckon this is way too high, and have compared with friends and family.

Average around $140 - $160 around summer.

Just turned off the SETI screensaver recently to see if that will help :-)

Energy Online, All Inclusive Plan

Daily Charge - 92.25c, inc gst
Unit Charge - 25.73c, inc gst

20% discount for prompt payment, which I use, most of the time.

LPG gas heating

My thoughts are no longer my own and is probably representative of our media-controlled government

wellygary

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# 224429 12-Jun-2009 17:12

Decimate: With all the various discussions about mobile costs and landline costs and service, I was wanting to see how much people are paying for that other large unwanted monthly expense! Not just a general amount for how much you pay but rather, what company you're with, what you're daily rate is and what your unit/kw rate is. I've never really thought about shopping around for better power deals before, but if we're getting ripped off then why not!

I'm in Chch suburbs, Meridian Energy, 22.47c/daily line charge and 65.80c/unit

No one pays 65 c a unit,

I think it is 22.47c/unit and 65/day line charge?

sbiddle

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# 224433 12-Jun-2009 17:30

Prompt payment discounts also need to be factored in as they are very considerable these days.

zocster

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# 224461 12-Jun-2009 19:10

Decimate:

I'm in Chch suburbs, Meridian Energy, 22.47c/daily line charge and 65.80c/unit

Well I think you got it wrong there, daily/unit charge other way around :)

cokemaster

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# 224463 12-Jun-2009 19:17

During the Summer, we used to pay around $85 a month.
During the winter, we pay about $130-140 a month.

We were with Mercury, but switched to Powershop as they offered better pricing.

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Damager

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# 224505 12-Jun-2009 22:09

yeps, he's got the rates around the wrong way. and they're inc gst and ex 10% prompt payment discount as per meridian's website.

if you're averaging less than 660 kWh per month, then you should consider the low user plan. the daily fixed charge is then 37.50 cents/day and the anytime then 23.90cents/kWh.

if you only have one elec meter and no gas, you should actually be on the economy 24 rate whether you're a high/low user.

how many elec meters do you have?

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Ragnor

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# 224533 13-Jun-2009 00:19

cokemaster: During the Summer, we used to pay around $85 a month.

During the winter, we pay about $130-140 a month.

We were with Mercury, but switched to Powershop as they offered better pricing.

How are you finding powershop?

richms

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# 224546 13-Jun-2009 04:17

This place I am on genisis energy all inclusive - 92.14 daily inc gst and discount, and 19.79 per unit, family on the shore in another place are with mercury energy on 230.3235 daily and 15.595875 per unit - I cant get that plan since I dont have 3 phase here and for some reason they checked when I applied for it, whereas others have moved onto it without a problem from the lines company (Think its because I have 2 meters which wouldn't be the case with 3 phase)

My monthly bills are $180 or so with just me, when having others stay was getting close to 400, but its a cold house with no insulation and many gaps in it.

Richard rich.ms

Decimate

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# 224573 13-Jun-2009 10:13

zocster:
Decimate:

I'm in Chch suburbs, Meridian Energy, 22.47c/daily line charge and 65.80c/unit

Well I think you got it wrong there, daily/unit charge other way around :)

Haha yeah I think we can safely say I got it around the qwrong way, I was scribbling all this down in no particular order as the lady on the phone was rattling off all the info.

cokemaster

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# 224576 13-Jun-2009 10:34

Ragnor:
How are you finding powershop?

Powershops been good to us so far. We did a few fun and games about monthly meter reads (as I used to have after hour meter readers sent out) but reached a resolution in the end. Their contact centre seems to use the caller ID information quite well - if you call from your landline or mobile they already know what account you're talking about (but will verify who you are before disclosing details)... quite a time saver.

The pricing per unit is a little bit higher than conventional companies (we buy the bulk packs at 21.12 cents per unit), but remember that it aren't any daily charges nor any extra charges which push the prices up. We keep the same meter and get the Auckland power dividend as usual. No nasty prepaid meters. Its not a 'prepaid' power system so you can keep paying your power like normal but if you buy packs or power on special - its a good way of saving a bit of money here and there (particularly during holidays where they often offer specials on power).

The reporting information is impressive. Depending on how often you enter your meter readings in (daily is best as it gives you the most information back) you can get all kinds of insights about how you use your power. Sure, you can do it on excel or something similar but they handle everything for you and you benefit from entering in meter reads - you pay only for the power you use rather than estimates.

The website is good. Though it would be nice if it worked with mobile phones (some of it is very javascript/flash based which makes it unsuitable).

My only real critism is the lack of big multiple month power packs. Most only apply for a single month period. Its ok - we get around this by buying one of the flower special power packs and then a standard power special power pack, but it would be nice to have a slightly bigger pack (somewhere between 400-800 units) or something that doesn't expire within the same month. Though these are early days, and I expect that to change as powershop grows.

Otherwise a very good experience so far. Would recommend them even if it was just for the simpilicity of having a single charge - the kwh of power you use.

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paradoxsm

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# 224932 14-Jun-2009 16:34

Quick glance, genesis power

$30 for about 30 days, 20c per KW/h single meter controlled unsure of plan as was only $80 all up.

I'm investigating getting a commercial smart meter installed and I i buy the meter, have it installed I may be able to use vector directly. i'd love to pay the wholesale rate, retail is just a plain gouged rip off

Most of my appliances are low energy usage ones except where it would cost a significant upfront cost to have a 7-10 year payoff (like buying/installing a fireplace or wind-turbine) you save after the purchase bt often the purchase price/installation/compliance just isn't worth it unless you get subsidised. (solar hot water?)

I see a lot of people buying fires only to complain about the install/compliance costs and the hassle of having to deal with huge amounts of firewood and expensive coal and of course lighting it. (often the firewood is hideously expensive too especially if you "need it fast")

Another thing to steer well clear of are those portable gas bottle powered heaters, they are incredibly expensive and full the house with moisture. (why not also run a $200 (very cheap end too) dehumidifier at 300W to dry the house too). horrible things though they are handy for barbeques on spring and autumn (where we have one)