Savvy switchers save $5 million on power bills 

Powerswitch is a free and independent comparison service run by Consumer NZ that helps people to check they’re on the best plan to meet the needs of their household.

While we’ve calculated the switches made collectively saved households $5 million, the total amount will be much higher. That’s because we often hear people use the information on Powerswitch to ask their power company for a better deal.  

Paul, the manager of Powerswitch, said he and his colleagues, who are constantly updating the website with the latest deals, were proud to have kept that much money in consumers’ bank accounts over the past 12 months.  

“There’s a real sense of pride but also frustration because while we’re helping people save such a significant amount of money, it could be a lot more if people would be willing to make the switch,” he said.  

Paul said Powerswitch users saved an average of $385 on their power bill and switching was a way of also helping the whole country pay less for power. 

“When more people switch, it generates competition in the market and forces retailers to sharpen their prices to hold on to their customers. 

“At the moment they don’t need to. I have people complaining to me all the time that they’re paying too much for power and when I suggest they switch they go ‘no, no I can’t be bothered’ and I just think ‘well that’s why they’re overcharging you’. They’re playing the game – why would they bring down prices if we’re just going to keep paying it.”  

Powerswitch makes it easy to see which of the power and gas plans in its database you could switch to and save money. Powerswitch is free to use and has had about 660,000 users in the year to June 30.  

So, are you ready to see what you could save? And do your bit to bring down the country’s power prices? Check out Powerswitch now – it only takes a few minutes.