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Energy companies are lifting their game – again. Three years ago, fewer than two-thirds of those who took part in our survey were satisfied with the service they received from their power provider. Last year the overall satisfaction rate was 75 percent and this year it reached 78 percent.

Powershop, Energy Online and Energy Direct NZ have led the rankings in our last four surveys. Powershop’s satisfaction rating was 95 percent, with users adding comments like “I love being able to monitor my usage and control how much my power costs by buying specials” and “very helpful, professional and responsive to requests for explanations”. Energy Online and Energy Direct NZ received 87 and 85 percent satisfaction ratings.

The most common problem with electricity providers was “poor communication”. But many members also complained of high prices.

Fifteen percent of those who took part in our latest survey had changed to another electricity provider during the previous 12 months. The most common reason was “I found a better deal” – usually after visiting our free PowerSwitch website or after an approach from another company.

See the Survey results for full details of all the ratings.

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