It depends on where you live, because each lines company has its own charges and retailers set different prices on each network. On our live data at 7,000 kWh a year on a standard meter, the cheapest plan in Christchurch is Toast Electric Low User at $2,485 a year, while the cheapest in Dunedin costs $2,857. Use the comparator to see the cheapest plan for your own town, usage and meter.

Compare the total yearly cost of each plan for your own home, not the headline rate per kWh. That needs three things: your lines company (it depends on where you live), your yearly usage in kWh (on your bill or in your retailer's app) and your meter set-up (standard, controlled hot water or night meter). The comparator asks for those three and prices every plan for you, daily charges, usage rates and levy included.

Three parts, all incl. GST: a daily charge paid every day whatever you use; one or more usage rates per kWh, which can change with the time of day, the day of the week or the month; and the small Electricity Authority levy some retailers list on its own. The charges of your lines company are built into these rates by your retailer, which is why the same plan costs a different amount in another town.

Under the Low Fixed Charge regulations, a Low User plan must be cheaper for a home using less than 8,000 kWh a year, or 9,000 kWh in the lower South Island (Christchurch and south of it, excluding the West Coast). Its daily charge is capped at $1.80 a day excl. GST since 1 April 2026, and the regulations are removed on 1 April 2027 (MBIE). The comparator prices both kinds for your usage, so the cheaper one comes first either way.

No. Type your town or suburb and the comparator finds it. Where a town is split between two lines companies, it asks you to pick: the name is printed on your power bill, next to your ICP number. Switching retailer never changes your lines company: the wires and the meter stay the same.

By total yearly cost for the usage and meter you enter, cheapest first, and nothing else. The prices come from the Selectra Energy Core database, which records each retailer's published rates for each network along with the date they were last checked, shown on every plan. Your retailer confirms the final price for your exact address when you sign up.