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Understanding your power price change
If you’re a Slingshot Power customer and got an email from us about changes to your power rates, check out more helpful info here.
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The price you pay for electricity is made up of a few different parts, like the cost of generating the power you use and getting it to your premises, to reading and maintaining your electricity meter. Every year, we review all the costs of providing electricity and update our power rates.
The costs we pay to electricity generators have increased significantly over the last year. This makes up a significant part of what you pay and affects all power providers, as everyone must purchase electricity from these electricity generators. Costs from lines companies, which maintain the infrastructure that delivers power to your premises, have also increased.
For Low Users, see “What’s happening with Low User rates?” below on why your Fixed Daily Charge rate is now changing.
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Refer to the email we sent you about the rate change to find out when your new rates take effect.
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Visit the Electricity Authority’s website for a breakdown of the costs an average household power bill contributes to and more about electricity pricing and rates.
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The Government is phasing out the Low Fixed Charge Tariff regulations over a 5-year period to create a fairer, more equitable system. This means you'll see an increase in your Fixed Daily Charge rates if you're on a Low User plan. You can find out more about the changes here.
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No, any discounts you’re getting will continue to apply.
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You can change between Low User and Standard plans once a year in My Slingshot.
Deciding between Low User and Standard can be tricky. Learn more about your options here. When choosing between Low User or Standard, bear in mind that the Government is phasing out Low Fixed Charge Tariff regulations over a 5-year period. You can read more about that here.
Looking for a quick breakdown of your power usage? Easy! Just log into My Slingshot to see a handy graph that tracks how much power you are using on a daily basis.
The graph displays differently depending on whether you have a Legacy or Smart meter at your property because they operate and are billed for in distinct ways.
A Legacy meter requires someone to physically read your usage, whereas a Smart meter communicates this information remotely.
Legacy Meters
These older meters require a monthly visit from a meter reader to manually give us your usage.
Your power bill is estimated based on your previous usage; this is to make sure the bills you receive are consistent as we charge in advance. When the actual reading comes through, your next bill is credited or debited depending on whether we over or undercharged you.
The power graph is then updated so you can check your usage. The example graph below shows an actual read being done and that we had underestimated the usage by 98 kW/h for this customer.
^ If you can see 'Change Meter Access Information' within My Slingshot, it means you have a Legacy power meter.
Updating a legacy meter reading
Legacy meter power usage is estimated between readings (which happen every month or longer if a reading visit is not possible). You can submit a manual reading by selecting 'Update Meter Reading' and you will be taken to a page to confirm the meter number and enter in the current reading you see on the meter. This ensures you are being billed accurately.
Smart Meters
These are your typical meters that remotely send daily power readings - we can bill for your actual usage this way. With a 48-hour delay, the power graph accurately shows how much you’ve been using.
^ Blue usage bars are actual reads whereas orange are estimates. You'll see mostly blue for smart meters and mostly orange for legacy.
Frequently Asked Questions
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You’ll want to double-check your internal wiring is not the source of the problem, including the hot-water cylinder. If everything seems right, the incorrect readings could be caused by a faulty meter. Give us a call on 0800 89 2000 and we can arrange for this to be investigated – please be aware that there could be a call-out fee if nothing is wrong.
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The meter reads are co-ordinated by the metering company and cannot be changed.
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The meter reader will knock on your door to see if someone can unlock this for them. If they can’t get in, they will leave a card with our 0800-number asking you to give us a call and organise a day for access.
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All the details on how to organise a meter move are here.
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Yes, you can! get in touch and we can discuss the details with you.
There are two types of plan available to Kiwi households: Standard User or Low User.
Under either, you’ll be billed both a daily rate, and a usage rate per kWh (kilowatt-hour) unit of electricity consumed. It’s entirely up to you whether you sign onto a Standard or a Low User plan, but depending on your circumstances you may be much better off on one rather than the other.
Compare your power options
Powerswitch is a free and independent energy price comparison tool offered by Consumer NZ. The reason you won’t find Slingshot on this tool is because the tool can’t handle displaying bundle discounts. We urge you to factor in any discounts we offer if you use Powerswitch to compare energy providers.
Standard User
The Standard User plan has a higher daily charge, but a lower charge per kWh used so is ideal if your electricity usage is relatively high. Households north of Christchurch are better off on a Standard plan if using more than 8,000kWh each year, and for Christchurch and further south if using more than 9,000 kWh each year. Conversely, if your annual usage is lower than that number, a Low User plan is more advantageous. A Low User plan is generally suited to people using less electricity than average (hence the name!) It’s designed so that the fixed rate is no more than 30 cents a day* but the unit rate is higher, which means that if you don’t use much electricity you’ll pay less than you would on a Standard User plan.
Standard rate plans will generally suit larger households, where people are home a lot, and electricity is used for hot water and heating.
Low User
In general, you should pick a Low User plan if your household has one or two people living in a well-insulated, energy-efficient home, often with gas for heating or hot water. Very roughly, these households will spend much less than $200 monthly averaged across the year – although the exact level will vary in different parts of the country. Low User plans are only available for your primary residence (so not your bach, crib or holiday home).
Note that while for most of the country the tipping point between the two plans is 8,000kWh annually, the average household use is much lower than that. So, you may be a very standard household – but better off on a Low User plan.
You can switch between Low and Standard user plans once a year.
*not including GST and after any prompt payment discount
Will my billing be affected by upcoming government regulations?
As per the latest information from the NZ government, The Low Fixed Charge Tariff regulations are currently being phased-out over a 5-year period that started on 1 April 2022. You can find the details of the regulatory change here.
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