Winter Energy Payment 2026
Updated 11 May 2026 · By Cornelia Zavoianu
A weekly, non-taxable cash top-up paid automatically by Work and Income from 1 May to 1 October. Up to $700.04 per couple over the full season, no application required.
$20.46
Weekly rate, single (no dependants)
$31.82
Weekly rate, couple or with children
22 wks
1 May to 1 October each year
$700.04
Max paid over the full season
The Winter Energy Payment is the simplest piece of New Zealand's energy support system: a fixed weekly cash transfer added to your benefit or pension during the coldest months. You do not apply, you do not choose how to spend it, and it does not reduce anything else you receive.
But it is also the most misunderstood. It is not a power-bill discount, not linked to your retailer, and the actual amount many recipients receive over a full winter is smaller than the savings a typical Kiwi household could unlock by switching power company. This guide explains exactly how the payment works, who gets it, and what it does not fix.
Three things to know first
What the Winter Energy Payment actually is
A cash top-up, not a power discount. Understanding the difference matters for how you plan your winter budget.
A cash transfer, not an energy discount
The money lands in your normal benefit account. You can spend it on power, food, rent or anything else. MSD does not check what you do with it.
Tied to your benefit, not your power bill
It is paid automatically if you receive one of ten qualifying benefits. Your retailer, plan or meter type do not matter. Renters and homeowners qualify the same way.
Flat rate, not means-tested
A single recipient on Jobseeker gets the same weekly amount as a single retiree on NZ Super. Couples get one shared rate, regardless of how much energy they actually use.
Weekly rates & season totals
How much is the Winter Energy Payment?
Rates are the same in 2025 and 2026. The payment is divided into two tiers based on household composition, not income.
Tier 1
Single, no dependent children
$20.46 / week
Adds up to about $450.12 over the full 22-week season.
- Single retirees on NZ Super.
- Single Jobseeker, Supported Living or Veteran's Pension recipients.
- People without children living in their care.
Tier 2
Couple or with dependent children
$31.82 / week
Adds up to about $700.04 over the full 22-week season.
- Couples on NZ Super or Veteran's Pension (one shared payment).
- Sole parents on Sole Parent Support or Young Parent Payment.
- Anyone with at least one dependent child in their care.
Couples get one payment, not two. Even if both partners qualify separately, MSD pays the $31.82 weekly rate into a single nominated account. Living arrangements (together or apart) do not change the amount.
When you get paid
Payment dates for 2025 and 2026
The Winter Energy Payment runs for the same 22-week window each year, regardless of the calendar.
| Season | Starts | Ends | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2025 | Thursday 1 May 2025 | Wednesday 1 October 2025 | 22 weeks |
| Winter 2026 Current | Friday 1 May 2026 | Thursday 1 October 2026 | 22 weeks |
First weekly payment, 2026
Arrives the week of Monday 11 May 2026 for weekly benefit recipients.
First fortnightly payment, 2026
Arrives the week of Tuesday 19 May 2026 for NZ Super and Veteran's Pension recipients.
Who gets it
Eligibility for the Winter Energy Payment
Eligibility flows from the benefit you already receive. There is no separate income test, asset test or application form.
You qualify if you receive any of these 10 benefits
NZ Super
The state pension paid to most people aged 65 and over.
Veteran's Pension
Paid by Veterans' Affairs to former service personnel.
Jobseeker Support
For people who are not working, or working less than 30 hours a week.
Jobseeker Support Student Hardship
For full-time students facing hardship outside the study year.
Sole Parent Support
For single parents with at least one dependent child under 14.
Supported Living Payment
For people with a health condition, injury or disability that limits work.
Young Parent Payment
For 16 to 19 year-old parents in education, training or work-based learning.
Youth Payment
For 16 to 17 year-olds who cannot live with their parents.
Emergency Benefit
For people in hardship who do not qualify for any other main benefit.
Emergency Maintenance Allowance
For sole parents in hardship who do not qualify for Sole Parent Support.
Do students get the Winter Energy Payment?
Student Allowance and StudyLink loan payments do not qualify on their own. A student receives the payment only if they also receive a main benefit such as Jobseeker Support Student Hardship or Sole Parent Support. Young parents under 20 may qualify via Young Parent Payment or Youth Payment.
You will not receive it if any of these apply
In residential care
You receive a Residential Care Subsidy or Residential Support Subsidy. Heating costs are already covered by the facility.
Living overseas
You are outside New Zealand for more than 28 days during the payment period. Short trips of up to 28 days are still paid.
On an overseas pension
You receive a foreign pension that fully replaces your NZ Super or Veteran's Pension. Partial deductions still qualify.
Payment mechanics
How the payment is delivered
The Winter Energy Payment is bolted onto your existing benefit cycle. Nothing changes on your end.
Same account
Paid into the bank account where you already receive your benefit or pension.
Same schedule
Weekly recipients get a weekly top-up. NZ Super and Veteran's Pension recipients get it fortnightly with their pension.
No tax taken
The payment is non-taxable, so it never affects your end-of-year IRD assessment.
No effect on other support
Does not reduce your Accommodation Supplement, Income-Related Rent, Working for Families or Child Support.
One important rule: The Winter Energy Payment cannot be paid as a lump sum. If you want a single bill payment, you would need to set aside the weekly amounts yourself.
3 simple steps
How to receive the Winter Energy Payment
If you are already on a qualifying benefit, you do nothing. The steps below cover what to do if you are not.
Check the benefit list
Confirm you receive one of the 10 qualifying benefits or pensions. If yes, MSD will add the payment automatically.
Apply or sign in to MyMSD
If you are not on a benefit, sign in to MyMSD to update circumstances or apply. NZ Super applications go through Senior Services.
Watch your account in May
From the first week of May, your normal benefit deposit will include the Winter Energy Payment top-up automatically.
The 28-day rule
What happens if you travel overseas?
Designed to keep paying short trips, but pause longer absences.
Up to 28 days away
You keep receiving the Winter Energy Payment for short trips totalling up to 28 days during the winter period. The rule is set in the Social Security Act and applies to one or more absences combined.
More than 28 days
The payment stops for the days beyond 28. Tell Work and Income before you leave, or you risk having to repay the overpaid amount when you return.
Expert insight
Why a $20 weekly top-up rarely covers a Kiwi winter
The Winter Energy Payment was designed as a cash buffer, not a structural fix. Understanding the gap helps you plan around it.
NZ homes lose heat fast
Around half of New Zealand's homes were built before insulation became compulsory in 1978. A poorly insulated three-bedroom house can use $70 to $120 of electricity a week on heating alone in July. A $20.46 top-up replaces roughly two days of that, not the season.
Same rate for everyone, regardless of need
A retiree in a sunny Auckland apartment receives exactly the same weekly amount as a family in a leaky Dunedin villa. The flat-rate design keeps the scheme simple and cheap to run, but it means recipients in the South Island or in older housing carry a much bigger uncovered heating bill.
Switching retailer often saves more
The Electricity Authority estimates the average NZ household could save around $400 a year by switching to a cheaper power plan. That is roughly the same as a full season of single-rate Winter Energy Payment, and you keep it every year, not just over winter.
What to actually do
Stack the payment with switching and insulation
The recipients who get the most from the Winter Energy Payment combine three moves:
- Take the payment automatically, no action needed.
- Switch power retailer to lock in a cheaper c/kWh rate, and confirm you are on the right low user or standard user tariff before the April 2027 reform.
- Apply for Warmer Kiwi Homes if you own a pre-2008 home: ceiling and underfloor insulation cut typical heating bills by hundreds a year.
Policy outlook
Will the Winter Energy Payment continue in 2026 and beyond?
A live question in NZ political debate — here is where it stands.
The Winter Energy Payment remains in place for the 2026 winter. Work and Income confirms the 1 May to 1 October dates on the official scheme page, with no announced cessation or means-test in 2026. Recipients on a qualifying benefit will receive the payment automatically as in previous years.
The scheme has been a recurring topic of political debate. Both Labour and National-led coalition governments have kept it through their successive winters, with adjustments to other parts of the welfare and energy hardship landscape (Warmer Kiwi Homes funding, electricity-price reviews) rather than to the WEP itself. There is no draft legislation in 2026 to remove or reduce the payment.
Any future change would normally be announced in a Budget cycle (late May) or in the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update. Households relying on the payment can plan on the same rates and dates for the 2026 season, while keeping an eye on Budget announcements for the years ahead.
Rate history
How the rates have evolved since 2018
The headline weekly rate has been stable for most of the scheme's life. A one-off increase in 2022 is the only exception.
| Season | Single rate / week | Couple / family rate / week | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (first year) | $20.46 | $31.82 | Scheme introduced by the Labour-led coalition. |
| 2019–2021 | $20.46 | $31.82 | Rates unchanged year on year. |
| 2022 (one-off boost) | Temporarily increased | Temporarily increased | Cost-of-living response; the standard rate resumed the following winter. |
| 2023–2025 | $20.46 | $31.82 | Standard rates reinstated after the 2022 increase. |
| 2026 Current | $20.46 | $31.82 | No change announced for the 2026 winter season. |
Eight years on, the headline rates are nominally the same as in 2018. With cumulative inflation since then, the real value of the payment has fallen — one reason successive governments have argued the WEP is best understood as a winter cash buffer, while the underlying cost of energy is addressed through schemes like Warmer Kiwi Homes and the Low User/Standard User tariff reform.
Other energy support
Schemes that cut your bill year-round
The Winter Energy Payment helps with cash flow. These schemes attack the underlying cost.
Warmer Kiwi Homes
Government grants covering up to 80% of the cost of ceiling and underfloor insulation, heat pumps and wood burners.
Green Home Loans
Borrow up to $80,000 at 1% from Kiwibank, ANZ, BNZ or Westpac for insulation, solar, heat pumps and EVs.
Solar power in NZ
How rooftop PV stacks up against the Winter Energy Payment — install costs, payback periods and the best NZ retailers for solar households.
All NZ energy schemes
Browse every government grant, payment, green loan and consumer protection available to Kiwi households.
Winter Energy Payment FAQ
The Selectra expert answers your questions
No. If you already receive a qualifying benefit (NZ Super, Veteran's Pension, Jobseeker, Sole Parent Support, Supported Living Payment, Young Parent Payment, Youth Payment, Emergency Benefit or Emergency Maintenance Allowance), Work and Income adds the payment automatically from 1 May. If you think you qualify but the payment is missing, contact Work and Income directly.
If you believe you were eligible in a past winter but did not receive it, you can ask Work and Income to review your payments. They can correct past payments where appropriate, and you may request a further review through MSD's formal appeal process if you disagree with their decision.
Yes. If you do not want to receive the payment, you can ask Work and Income to stop it through MyMSD or by phone. You can later request to have it restarted during the winter period if you change your mind. Some households opt out to avoid affecting other budgeting arrangements.
You can update your bank account details through MyMSD or by contacting Work and Income directly. You may be asked to provide proof of the new account, such as a bank statement or deposit slip. The change applies to all your MSD payments, not just the Winter Energy Payment.
No, the payment is included with your usual benefit or pension deposit. If you want to confirm it has been added, check your payment breakdown in MyMSD, which itemises each component of your payment. Work and Income can also send a written breakdown on request.
No. The Winter Energy Payment is not linked to who pays the power account or even whether your name is on the bill. It is a top-up to your benefit, so it is paid to whoever holds the qualifying benefit, regardless of the household's electricity arrangements.
The payment is non-taxable and does not reduce your other Work and Income payments or your Income-Related Rent. For interactions with Inland Revenue assessments and Working for Families thresholds, you should confirm with IRD directly, but in practice the payment is treated as a non-income transfer.
You can usually keep receiving the payment for short overseas trips totalling up to 28 days during the May to October period, provided you still meet eligibility. If you plan to be away longer, notify Work and Income before you leave, otherwise the overpaid weeks will need to be repaid when you return.
If you qualified partway through the season and the payment was not added automatically, Work and Income can review your record. If a correction is needed, they will adjust your payments accordingly. There is no formal back-dating window, but reviews are most reliable during the same winter or shortly after.
Request a check of your payments through MyMSD or by phoning Work and Income. If you still disagree with the outcome, you can use MSD's review and appeals process, which involves an independent reviewer and, ultimately, the Social Security Appeal Authority.
Yes. You can request to stop or restart the payment at any point during the winter period. Work and Income provides forms and self-service options in MyMSD for making these changes. The next payment cycle will reflect your request.
MSD will never ask you for banking passwords, login codes or one-off transfers by text or email. If you receive a message about your Winter Energy Payment that asks for sensitive details or directs you to an unfamiliar website, verify it by signing in to MyMSD directly or by phoning Work and Income.
Beyond the winter top-up
Save another $400 a year by switching power company
The Winter Energy Payment helps during the cold months. Switching electricity retailer cuts your bill all year. Compare every NZ power company in a few minutes, then come back to claim the rest of your winter top-up.