Research report
24 June 2020
Power company shuts up shop
Electricity retailer Energyclubnz pulls plug.
Power company Energyclubnz has closed its doors, blaming Covid-19 and a “volatile” wholesale electricity market.
The company’s 11,000 customers are being transferred to Contact Energy.
Energyclubnz entered the power market in 2017. Until May this year, it was part-owned by news publisher Stuff.
Despite high-profile ad campaigns, the electricity company’s customer base remained small with less than one percent of the residential market.
Announcing its closure, Energyclubnz director David Goadby said “the combination of Covid-19 and a volatile wholesale energy market has made our model unsustainable without significantly raising pricing”.
Contact Energy said most Energyclubnz customers had now been transferred to its books with the rest to follow in the next few days.
Affected customers don’t have to stick with Contact and are free to shop around. To check out your options, visit powerswitch.org.nz.
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