A talented hacker, Michael, integrated Electric Kiwi with Home Assistant. We asked him some questions about his project, so if you’re keen to know what inspired him to work on this project and how it benefits EK customers, read on!

Can you share a bit about your background in software development and how you became interested in home automation?

I have a degree in Computer Science from Otago. I’ve been in software development for about 10 years now. I’ve been working on mobile apps, small scale games, websites and complex integrations and systems. The main languages I’ve used are Javascript (and Typescript), C#, a bit of Kotlin and Java thrown in. No python though which is what Home Assistant is written in.

I started getting really interested in Home Automation when we moved home about 2 years ago and I wanted things like my lights and speakers to turn on automatically when I walked into my home office. Kids also leave things on a lot, like lights and so on, so I want them to turn off on their own. I’d discovered Home Assistant and started learning about all the things it could do. We’d also had solar installed so that further made me want to utilise the excess power better.

What inspired you to participate in the Electric Kiwi Juice Hackers campaign?

We’d recently moved house and power providers (to EK) and had solar installed. Our 1960s house is not very energy efficient so it’s very warm in summer and too cold in winter. The bedroom was one of the worst with next to no insulation in the roof; however, we have five heat pumps and the one in our bedroom was Wifi controllable, which means I could automate it. So a nice warm (or cool) room for an hour sounded like a great idea. I’d managed to set up the automation to go off manually, but of course what if I changed my Hour of Power? I’d then have to change all my automations too!

On top of this, I wanted everything to be easy for my wife to use if she wanted to change the hour. I knew other energy providers had APIs so off I went searching and found the Juice Hackers API, I was stoked!

How did you initially approach the project? Were there any specific problems you aimed to solve with your integration?

I’d never written a Home Assistant integration before and to be honest it’s really daunting. I joined the Home Assistant Discord channel to ask questions and also looked around to see if anyone was already working on it. I found an unofficial integration by Matt (one of EK’s founders) on Github but wasn’t really what I wanted to build and wasn’t a home assistant integration either. Some others had made minor attempts at an integration but didn’t get far. Once released I got a lot of “I was going to do this but didn’t have time” from others.

Can you walk us through the process of developing the integration? What were the biggest challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?

I don’t write Python at all in my daily job so it was a huge learning curve! Learning python and Home Assistant at the same time!

When I discovered the API I also learned there was no Python API for the Juice Hackers API. With Home assistant integrations, you need to separate the interfaces (client) from the integrations. It took me at least three iterations to get an API client I was happy with and worked in a way that was easy to use. So I had to publish my first Python library which can be installed using pip (the python package manager).

I did this as I slowly learnt how to make a basic integration using sensors (displaying static data like account information)

I also wanted to publish my integration into Home Assistant – this takes a lot of time and patience, there are hundreds of pull requests that the developers go through so it took months before they were able to review my integration. However; fortunately, that didn’t prevent me from sharing a version others could use while I waited for that to get reviewed. Patience is hard!

I also got EK in touch with Nabu Casa (makers of Home Assistant) to better integrate signing users into the integration using home assistant cloud instead of users having to sign up for their own access keys. This was an interesting process on its own but made for a much better user experience.

How does this integration improve the everyday lives of Electric Kiwi customers using Home Assistant?

Customers can now set up automations around when their free Hour of Power is, whether that’s heating the spa or turning on the dishwasher or setting an alarm. The possibilities are only limited by one’s creativity.

So in short it helps customers save money on their power bill and manage their spending on power as they can also see their current account balance and bills.

They can also change their free Hour of Power using automations based on power use or manually using the selector so they can have this on custom dashboards instead of having to open the app.

Are there any future enhancements or additional features you’re planning to add to the integration?

I’ve been asked a few times to provide energy usage e.g daily, weekly etc. However due to how Home Assistant works and my limited knowledge, this is a bit harder than just exposing the data as the initial days data is usually an estimate and not accurate. Home assistant provides a really useful energy dashboard so getting this data in would be great, so is next on the list. This will allow users to use their energy data to better save money by learning about their energy usage.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working on this project?

There are probably two rewards for me.

One is my own achievement of publishing both the EK Python API and EK Home Assistant Integration and solving the challenges that came along with it.

The other is the sense of achievement and satisfaction knowing I’ve helped other kiwis use their power better and give them their data to use as they wish.

Thanks to Michael’s work, Electric Kiwi customers can now do all sorts of cool stuff. They can set up their gadgets to turn on and off automatically, saving power and money. Michael’s also thinking about adding even more features, like showing how much energy you’re using each day. Keen to give your coding power a go? Visit our EK Juice Hackers website for more info!

The post Meet Our Electric Kiwi Juice Hacker appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

The Notice Period Challenge

Currently, broadband customers looking to switch often have to give 30-days notice or pay a fee to leave. You might think this is just the norm, but we don’t understand why this is necessary. We don’t have notice periods in energy. If you want to switch you can do so within a couple of days. We think notice periods are causing unnecessary complexity, especially when people are moving house.

Moving House Hassles

Moving is already a headache, and a 30-day notice period just adds to it. If you don’t plan more than 30 days ahead, you end up dealing with the internet stuff twice. First with your old provider and then with the new one after the move. This almost feels like a trick to stop people from thinking about changing providers when they move, which we know is a key time that customers shop around and look for better deals.

Double Charges and Worry

If you don’t know about the notice period and switch to a new provider, you might get charged twice. It’s the last thing that people want to deal with when they’re trying to save money by switching retailers. It also makes people worry about whether they’ll be double-billed. To help our customers avoid this, we set up our system to default to a 30-day switch. But, we’d much rather you could switch on the day you wanted to without any of this sneaky stuff!

The Customer Journey

Last year, we commissioned a survey into Broadband switching in New Zealand. It showed that switching isn’t always a breeze:

• 50% had to tell their old provider 30 days before switching
• 20% had to pay extra fees
• Almost half found the whole process daunting.
• 66% had to talk to their old provider to get things moving
• 25% had to contact their old provider more than once after stalled transfers
• Preparing meals early during off-peak or shoulder periods, as appliances like ovens and kettles consume considerable power.
• Avoiding the use of power-hungry appliances during peak times and using Wi-Fi switches to turn them off.

Despite these challenges, 90% of people were happy they made the switch, showing that a smooth process is crucial.

Because of these issues, Electric Kiwi has formally complained to the Commerce Commission, asking them to look into why notice periods are necessary for internet providers. We think getting rid of them would make things easier, encourage fair competition, and make customers happier. We’ll keep you posted on how things progress.

While the Commerce Commission is still looking into the problem, we’re not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs. After all, we wouldn’t be Electric Kiwi if we don’t do something cheeky! Here’s a comic strip we made which you’re more than welcome to use when you decide to break up with your Broadband provider – or any provider, really.

The post Breaking Up with Your Broadband Provider Shouldn’t Be Hard to Do appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

From harnessing solar power to smart home automation, these experiences offer a glimpse into the future of efficient and cost-effective home energy use.

It’s not just about numbers and graphs; it’s about real people making smart choices and seeing awesome results.

Customer 1: Using Solar Power for Efficient Water Heating

We have solar panels installed on our roof and use a standard hot water cylinder to heat our water. A power diverter is in place to redirect any excess solar-generated electricity to our hot water cylinder when our solar production exceeds our needs. Once the cylinder reaches its desired temperature, any surplus power is then fed back into the grid. The power diverter autonomously manages the energy supply to our hot water cylinder. It's programmed to activate at 5 pm for two hours in case there's no solar energy generated during the day, and again at 4 am for two hours, ensuring we have hot water in the morning.

Since we consistently require power at 4 am, I've scheduled our hour of power for this time. On average, we receive 30-40 kW of free power every fortnight, which translates into substantial savings of hundreds of dollars annually.

Customer 2: Integrating Timers and Solar Power with Batteries

Since moving to our new property and adopting a time-of-use rate, we've made considerable adjustments to our lifestyle. Our initial step was simple: avoiding the use of the dishwasher and washing machine during peak hours, which was easily manageable as we both work from home. We've also installed timers on our hot water system, ensuring it heats only during off-peak hours at night. Additionally, we're fortunate to have a solar power system with batteries. I've modified this system by setting the inverter to charge the batteries to 50% by 7 am, when peak rates begin. This charge level is sufficient to get us through the morning peak, even on cloudy days. The system is also programmed to fully charge the batteries before the evening peak. Typically, this is achieved solely through solar power, though occasionally it's supplemented by grid power during shoulder periods.

Our hour of power is set for midnight each day. At this time, the inverter recharges our batteries, and our hot water system reheats, leading to additional savings.

Overall, this strategy has been highly effective, saving us a substantial amount of money compared to the flat rate plans we've previously considered.

Customer 3: Smart Timing cuts Power Costs

Initially, I switched to Electric Kiwi to capitalise on the hour of free power, recognizing that our hot water cylinder was our home's main energy user. I found myself constantly adjusting the hour of power to coincide with our shower times, which became quite a hassle. I eventually found a solution by installing a timer switch on the hot water circuit. We programmed it to activate the hot water for an hour each afternoon during the 'hour of power' and for three hours early in the morning before 7 am. This change has allowed us to shower at our convenience without the need to reschedule the hour of power. It's an excellent arrangement for us!

The most rewarding discovery was that simply by adding a timer to our hot water cylinder, we've been saving at least $60 monthly on our power bill. Hot water was a major energy guzzler, particularly as my wife frequently uses hot water. Now, the cylinder only consumes power during off-peak periods, mainly at the half-price night rate.

Additionally, we've set delay start timers on our washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher to run overnight while we sleep. Our heat pump is also programmed to pre-heat or cool the house during off-peak hours.

There's much we can do to transfer our power usage to off-peak times, and it's surprisingly easy.

Customer 4: EVs and Smart Power Management

My husband and I switched to Electric Kiwi after retiring. After considering various plans, we chose the MoveMaster account, anticipating the purchase of an electric vehicle (EV). This plan has proven to be an excellent way for us to save on electricity costs in multiple ways.

We now own an EV and charge it overnight at the lowest rate. If it only needs a minor boost, we charge it during our free hour of power. Since we have a spa pool and are home during the day, we've scheduled our hour of free power from 9 am to 10 am, which allows the spa to heat up. During this hour, we also run our washing machine and dishwasher and charge our laptops, phones, vacuum cleaner, earbuds, Kindles, and Bluetooth speakers.

I've set alarms on my phone to remind me to switch everything on at 9 am and off at 10 am. I also use our EV's charging app timer for overnight charging. Apart from essentials like the fridge, freezer, hot water system, TV, modem, and toothbrush, we switch everything off at the wall. We're adapting to this routine of turning devices on and off.

The MoveMaster account has made us more mindful of our power consumption, and the Electric Kiwi app is a great tool for tracking our usage.

It may sound like a lot to manage, but we've established a routine that works for us. We adhere to a rule that everything should be done calmly and without stress. When we have visitors, for instance, we're more relaxed and simply do what's feasible.

Customer 5: Automation for Off-Peak Load Shifting

We've been loyal customers for many years now, and while the Hour of Power is fantastic, off-peak load shifting has been a game-changer for us, akin to a ninja-level strategy.

Our home springs to life at off-peak hours, reminiscent of an automation scene from 'Home Alone,' just as we're getting ready for bed. With the arrival of off-peak time, our home buzzes with activity. The various aftermarket wall plug timers we've installed start clicking into action. In winter, our heaters begin to circulate warm air, while our trusty washing machine starts another load, regardless of the season. Outside, our electric vehicles emit a couple of out-of-sync beeps as they start guzzling free electricity. If we're particularly organised, the dryer in the garage hums to life, spinning the day's remaining laundry. Sometimes, we find ourselves scurrying around the house, plugging in other appliances that need charging, or we might use our Alexa voice automation system to manage any we might have forgotten.

The appliances work through the night, completing their tasks, and by morning, we're all recharged and ready for another day of family chaos.

Our top load-shifting tips include:

• Utilising electrical timers, especially Wi-Fi plug timers with app control from a local hardware store, which are particularly useful during the festive season for controlling lights and decorations.
• Pairing these Wi-Fi switches with a budget-friendly voice-activated home automation system helps orchestrate our electrical needs, including Wi-Fi lighting.
• Checking if new appliances have built-in timers or delayed starts to leverage off-peak power.
• Making the most of electric vehicles, which often have built-in charging timers, is ideal for economical transport. Adding a higher capacity wall charger at home allows for faster charging of the vehicle’s batteries.
• Bathing the kids around 2-3 pm or showering after 9 pm, so the water cylinder heats up the next tank with cheaper off-peak electricity.
• Preparing meals early during off-peak or shoulder periods, as appliances like ovens and kettles consume considerable power.
• Avoiding the use of power-hungry appliances during peak times and using Wi-Fi switches to turn them off.

Joining EK has revolutionised how our family uses energy. By selecting quality electrical products, vehicles, and appliances, and automating their usage during the Hour of Power and off-peak periods, we stay prepared for the day ahead. These simple yet carefully refined changes have made us more energy-conscious and saved us significantly on energy costs, for which we are immensely grateful. Thank you for your excellent customer service and for continually offering fresh ideas.

Customer 6: Smart Switches for Off-Peak Usage

We've implemented smart switches and carefully managed appliance timings to maximise off-peak usage. Here's how we've maintained an impressive 77% average in off-peak usage while saving on energy costs:

• We installed an additional smart main switch equipped with a metering function.
• A similar smart switch was installed on the hot water circuit, which also includes timer and metering functions.
• We use a smart multiplug extension with four individually controllable power outlets and two USB outlets, all featuring timer functionality.
• The timers on the latter two are set to align with our chosen hour of power time slot. During this period, rechargeable batteries for our lawnmower, power tools, and electric bikes are charged automatically. We manually switch on other devices like the washing machine, ice maker, and begin pre-cooking the evening’s main meal. Four rechargeable power banks are also charged, ready to power our mobile phones the next day. Instead of using a dryer, we dry our laundry on a clothesline, utilising the sun and wind.

These strategies enable us, a household of two retirees, to average 3 kWh per day for hot water and 3.5 kWh per day for general usage, while maintaining over 77% off-peak usage.

What could MoveMaster mean for me?

Our MoveMaster customers are not just saving money; they’re leading the way in smart, sustainable living.

Their journeys, filled with practical tips and a dash of ingenuity, show us that shifting to a time-of-use plan isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about embracing a lifestyle that values efficiency and environmental stewardship. From the clever use of solar power and batteries to effective automation of household appliances during off-peak hours, these stories aren’t just inspiring—they’re a roadmap to a future where every home can be more energy-smart.

So, whether it’s the middle of the day or the quiet of midnight, our customers are proving that a little planning and some smart tech can make a big difference to your wallet and the planet.

The post How our MoveMaster customers are saving money on a time-of-use plan appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

We have introduced time-of-use pricing across all of our plans. To understand why, it helps to understand the basics of power generation.

In New Zealand, energy is sold in half-hour chunks. The market figures out how much power is needed, and then generators toss in their bids. It starts with eco-friendly cheaper generation like solar, hydro and wind.

The more power we need, the less likely the green sources can meet all of the demand. So expensive heavy weights like coal, gas, and diesel are bid in at much more expensive prices.

And here’s the interesting bit, the last bid sets the price for ALL the energy types in that half-hour slot. Whether it’s wind, water or coal, the prices for all power during a high-demand period are sold at a premium. Whereas the power sold during off-peak times is often much cheaper (and greener!) because the expensive, non-renewable generation sources aren’t as likely to be needed.

So by moving your power off-peak, you are more likely to be using renewable generation, and on a time-of-use plan, that power will cost you less!

What’s load shifting and how can I save money?

Load shifting simply means moving your electricity use to off-peak hours and it can lead to significant savings on a time-of-use plan. The amount of change you see on your bill will depend on how much you use your Hour of Power and cheaper off-peak times.

Peak Hours (7am – 9am and 5pm – 9pm) are the times when most people are using electricity – typically in the evening when everyone’s cooking, watching TV, or running appliances. Because of the high demand during these hours, the cost of energy is higher.

Off-Peak Hours (the rest of the time, and all weekend) are the quieter hours, like late at night, early in the morning before 7am when most people are sleeping or during the day. This includes the time after the rush hours too, when most people are already at work or in school. During off-peak hours, electricity demand is lower and it tends to be more affordable.

Here’s where load shifting comes in – once you get started, you will be surprised how easy it is. Simple things include running the dishwasher, dryer or washing machine off-peak. To start planning, you can check out a list of common appliances here and how much power they’re likely to use, and we’ve created a handy guide with tips that will help you become a load shifting superhero.

Electric Kiwi’s switch to time-of-use plans is a practical step for both our customers and the environment. The reality of New Zealand’s electricity market highlights the importance of finding innovative solutions, and as we transition to more renewable energy generation, load shifting will become even more vital. Renewables are cheaper and better for our planet, but they do not always run when we want them to. The sun shines during the day, and wind generation depends on weather conditions.

In the future real time shifting of load to match intermittent renewables will help us balance demand with supply in real time. This can be done via sophisticated industrial control, automation of EV charging, control of our hot water and more. The future is exciting, and we’re getting started now because reducing peak electricity use has the power to reduce electricity costs and help our planet. You can keep up to date with everything Electric Kiwi is doing in this space here.

We are all part of the solution, and you can help by saving as much money as possible by moving more power off-peak!

The post Why time-of-use plans are good for all Kiwis appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

A smart home is a house that uses smart gadgets and technology to make life easier. These gadgets talk to the internet and can be bossed around from your phone.

When it comes to load shifting, a smart home is like having a team of superheroes managing your energy use. They shift tasks to when electricity is more affordable, giving your wallet a break and making your home kinder to the planet!

With smart home gadgets, you can automate your load shifting and set-and-forget. Let’s take a look at some of the most useful ones.

• Gizmo 1: Smart Plugs. These control when your appliances turn on or off, allowing them to kick in during off-peak hours and turn off when prices are high. Options like Kasa are cheap and effective.
• Gizmo 2: Energy Monitoring Systems. Energy monitoring systems are like Sherlock Holmes, sniffing out the power-hungry culprits in your home. The device sits inside your home’s electrical panel and communicates data via wifi to show you how much energy your home is using overall and which devices are hogging the most energy! This helps you to keep tabs on your energy consumption and make changes to bring down your power bills.
• Gizmo 3: Smart Thermostats. If your heater has no thermostat, consider a Heater mate. These have timers and an accurate thermostat built in for any heater type. They can turn themselves off on a timer or by an ideal temperature you set, so you can schedule your heating and cooling to run during off-peak hours. You can also add a smart thermostat to your hot water cylinder – this will map your usage to decide when it’s safe to turn your cylinder down or off.
• Gizmo 4: Smart Lighting.Lights, camera, energy savings! With smart lighting you can customise your lighting from a smartphone app – programming them to turn on or off at specific times, or to adjust based on natural light conditions. It’s basically mood lighting on steroids, making your home feel a bit more like the future.

Renewable Energy Integration

So, you’re on the renewable energy vibe – nice one! You can beef up your savings by combining your solar panels or other renewable energy sources with time-of-use plans! Here’s how to make the most of your renewable energy:

Align your energy usage with your production of renewables

It’s an obvious one, but try to use energy-intensive appliances (like washing machines, dishwashers and electric water heaters) during daylight hours when your solar panels are producing electricity. This allows you to directly use the energy you generate.

Self consume as much as you can, to avoid lines charges

The cost of electricity from the grid is not solely based on the energy consumed but also includes additional charges such as distribution and transmission fees (lines charges). When you export electricity back to the grid, you receive a feed-in tariff based on the energy portion only, without the added fees, so it is best to self-consume as much of your renewable energy as you can.

Consider throwing in a battery storage system with your solar setup

On those sunny days when your panels are in overdrive, store the excess power in the battery. Then, when peak hours hit and electricity rates spike, release that stored power. It’s a solid backup plan to dodge high rates without breaking a sweat. Check out our solar page for exclusive offers for Electric Kiwi customers.

These moves aren’t just about pinching pennies; they’re about being smart with your energy choices to make substantial savings on your power bills and lessening your impact on the environment. Everybody wins.

The post Make the most of load shifting with Smart Home Devices appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

Here are some practical tips to make the most of load shifting and lower your power bill.

The easy steps!

Tip 1: Toss those dirty dishes in the dishwasher just before you go to bed – you’re not going to empty it until the next morning anyway. Delay that baby and it’ll cost you less.

Tip 2: Start your washing machine during the day or just before you hit the hay. Many machines have a delay feature, so try and get into the habit of delaying it outside of those pesky peaks.

Tip 3: Same goes for the dryer, and these can be power hungry beasts! If it’s too cold outside to dry your clothes properly, keep its use to late at night or during the daytime if you can.

Bonus round: For maximum savings, use your Hour of Power at 11 pm – that way the first hour of your washing/drying/dishwashing extravaganza will be 100% free!

It’s gettin’ hot in here!

Tip 4: Heat things up early, before the peak hours hit. This means that you wake up to a warm house, and doing it early saves you money! Many heaters have timers built in, if not you can buy these – see the ‘timers are your new BFF’ section below.

As it’s usually hottest during the day in summer, use your air con during those daytime off-peak hours whenever possible – it all counts.

Tip 5: Consider investing in a thermostat – which is a device that regulates temperature by maintaining it at a set level. You can buy one at any electronics store, just make sure it is compatible with your heating and cooling systems. Many people heat their houses too much – a cosy, but expensive, habit! Once you’ve set the perfect temperature of your home, you can let your temperature-controlling wizard do the rest, meaning it won’t be driving your heating unit hard during peak hours!

But what does this actually mean in terms of savings? Is it worth it?

Short answer, yes! Take a look at the below table, which shows average power use of the appliances mentioned above, and how much money you could save by moving them from peak to off-peak times. This uses our Kiwi plan rates for peak ($0.4488) and off-peak ($0.3345) ^★.

$6 a week might not seem like much, but it stacks up fast to an awesome $350 a year!

• Dryer

• Dishwasher

• AC/Heatpump

• Washing Machine

Appliance	Dryer
Power Required	6.8 kWh per load
# of times used per week	3
Weekly Savings	$2.33
Annual Savings	$121.25

Total Weekly Savings	$6.79
Total Annual Savings	$353.05

Appliance	Dishwasher
Power Required	2 kWh per load
# of times used per week	5
Weekly Savings	$1.14
Annual Savings	$59.44

Total Weekly Savings	$6.79
Total Annual Savings	$353.05

Appliance	AC / Heatpump
Power Required	3.5 kWh per load
# of times used per week	7
Weekly Savings	$2.80
Annual Savings	$145.62

Total Weekly Savings	$6.79
Total Annual Savings	$353.05

Appliance	Washing Machine
Power Required	0.9 kWh per load
# of times used per week	5
Weekly Savings	$0.51
Annual Savings	$26.75

Total Weekly Savings	$6.79
Total Annual Savings	$353.05

Sources:
Canstar Blue - How Much Electricity Does a Clothes Dryer Use?
Consumer NZ - Appliance running costs
▲Note that kWh consumption is approximate and will vary depending on your usage and the efficiency of your appliances.
★These rates are a blended average from across New Zealand.

If you aren’t on the Kiwi plan, you’ll need to use your electricity rates to get an accurate picture of what you can save, and remember to check the kWh of your own home appliances. As you can see, small changes can make a really huge difference!

For the big win, try these tips

Tip 6: Got a pool or spa? Score big by running those pumps during the off-peak hours. Changing some energy usage habits takes a bit of thought, but running your pool pump off-peak at cheaper rates is a no-brainer! As well as a clean pool, you’ll get a clean conscience from knowing this energy usage is more likely to come from renewable sources.

Tip 7: A huge contributor to your power bill is hot water. Try to shower at night, or early in the morning if you can (before 7am) and you will drastically reduce your hot water costs. Just remember, your hot water cylinder heats up after your shower.

Tip 8: Night owls, rejoice! Tip 8 is to make sure you charge stuff at night. If you have an electric vehicle (EV) this move is a game-changer, but even for laptops and phones night charging means a fresh start every morning. It’s like a power nap for your devices. And the more you charge during off-peak hours, the more you save.

Timers are your new BFF

Check which of your devices have built-in timers and schedule things in off-peak hours like a pro.

No in-built timers? No problem! Grab some smart plugs (such as Kasa). Cheap, effective, and they let you boss your devices around from an app. Perfect for a heater that has a thermostat in it but no timer.

 that has a thermostat in it but no timer.

If you like the sounds of gizmos and want to take your load shifting to superhero levels, check out our blog about how to make the most of load shifting with Smart Home Devices.

As you’ve read, there are heaps of ways for you and your family to save a bundle by making small changes and creating new habits. And don’t forget your Hour of Power too! By reducing load in the peak hours, you’ll not only be saving yourself money, but you could also be reducing your impact on the environment. Go you!

The post How to save money on your power bills with load shifting appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

We’re all about making things better – and our Electric Kiwi app was long overdue for some TLC, so we’ve revamped the app to make your experience much better. Here’s what’s new!

You can now make a payment and update your payment method in the app

We heard you! You wanted the ability to make a manual payment in the app (and be able to update your payment method) and it’s finally here. In the Account section of the app, there’s now a ‘Make a payment’ button – no need to jump on your laptop to top up your account.

We’ve upgraded the security of our platform

We’ve upgraded the underlying technology of our online account and app to a more modern and secure platform. Keeping up to date with the latest security upgrades helps us keep your data safe and sound!

Things are looking fresh!

Our visual style has evolved and we’ve updated the app’s design to reflect that. We take pride in our signature (in-house made!) artwork and design. As an added bonus, the new design allows us to make improvements and add new features much easier in the future. So we can keep serving up more of the stuff you love, even faster!

At this stage, the new app update will be optional. But as we will no longer maintain the old app, we’ll be retiring it shortly.

Once you’ve updated to the new app, you will be asked to login. If you’ve forgotten your password, don’t fret – you can easily reset it by clicking the ‘Forgot password?’ link. Remember: your password is the same for the online account and the app.

We’re working on even more new features in the app and we’re so excited to share them with you soon. In the meantime, if you need some help troubleshooting the app or have suggestions on how we can make it better, our team on live chat would be happy to help.

The post App 2.0 is here! appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

Electric Kiwi believes that it’s time for the government to step in and address the excess profits these incumbent ‘gentailers’ are extracting from the electricity market.

Record-Breaking Profits Raise Concerns

The ‘big four’ gentailers have seen their profits soar since the onset of Covid-19. Year after year, they have reported record earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, and fair value adjustments (EBITDAF), totaling a whopping $2.61 billion in 2023, compared to $2.28 billion in 2022. To put these numbers in perspective, that’s over $7 million in profits every day, while many Kiwi households struggle to make ends meet.

What’s even more alarming is that these gentailers’ wholesale profits, derived from electricity generation, now surpass their company-wide profits. In 2023, wholesale profits reached a staggering $2.64 billion, exceeding the total company-wide profits. This shift has occurred due to two key factors.

Squeezing Competition through Subsidies

Firstly, the ‘big four’ have leveraged their market power to maintain high prices in the wholesale electricity market. This has allowed them to extract substantial profits from generation activities. Secondly, they have shifted profits from their retail businesses to their wholesale arms, essentially subsidising their retail operations with the excess profits generated from electricity generation.

For instance, Genesis reported a retail profit of $172 million just two years ago, significantly higher than its wholesale profit of $144 million. Fast forward to today, and Genesis’s wholesale profit has ballooned to a record $520 million, while its retail business is operating at an $11 million loss. Sadly, these drops in retail profits have not translated into savings for customers but have instead fueled the wholesale business.

The Impact on Competition and Innovation

The consequences of this profit distribution scheme have been dire for competition and the retail market. Over the past five years, more than 20 small and independent retailers have exited the market. Without healthy competition, consumers can anticipate rising prices and declining service quality. History has shown that innovation and improved service often emerge from new entrants, but the incumbents, whose profits derive from generation, have little incentive to drive meaningful improvements in retail.

A Call for Government Intervention

Electric Kiwi firmly believes that it’s time for the government to take bold action. One approach would involve divesting some of the generation assets from the ‘big four,’ leveraging the government’s 51% ownership stake in Genesis, Mercury, and Meridian. This ownership stake, originally intended to protect New Zealand consumers, has been used more like a stealth tax. It’s time to put it to better use for the benefit of all Kiwis.

Another option is for the gentailers to divest their retail businesses, forcing them to stand on their own without subsidies from their wholesale operations. Similar actions have been taken in the past, resulting in more competitive markets, as seen in the telecommunications sector.

We have lodged a complaint with the Commerce Commission under Section 36 of the Commerce Act. The Government made changes to section 36 of the Commerce Act earlier this year that make it more straightforward to identify a case for misuse of market power. We’re using this new provision because the Electricity Authority has failed to act decisively on any of these problems, but we have some confidence that the Commerce Commission will take the issue seriously.

At Electric Kiwi we are not afraid of competition, and we know a level playing field is exactly what the big four gentailers are desperate to avoid. We will keep fighting this, and in the meantime working on how we make it better for you and for our country. Government intervention, through measures like breaking up the gentailers, is necessary to restore competition, lower prices, and promote innovation in the market. It’s time to prioritise the needs of Kiwi households over corporate profits.

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We have always agreed with Consumer NZ that all of the costs of running this important service should be provided by the Energy Authority. In our view, asking an independent comparison service to ask retailers for fees, stops them from being a public service and turns them into a commercial operation. They have not yet achieved that funding goal, but we are hopeful that the Energy Authority has been listening, and will value the service that Powerswitch provides to fund it properly in the near future.

Great news, we have resolved our differences regarding fees with Powerswitch and we are back on the site.

There is still work to do on the Powerswitch site, especially when it comes to innovative time-of-use plans, and while we are encouraged by what they are saying, we will keep the pressure on to make sure that this service delivers transparent and useful insights to Kiwis on power prices.

Why care about load shifting?

A big point of contention is the way that Powerswitch shows time-of-use plans like MoveMaster.

Time-of-use (TOU) plans have different prices at different periods of the day. It may seem simpler to have flat rates, but wholesale power costs differ throughout the day, based on demand. TOU plans are designed to have more expensive pricing during peak busy times, such as 5-9pm, when everyone gets home from work and demand peaks, and cheaper prices at off-peak times, when fewer people are using the network.

Unfortunately, at the moment, TOU plans have savings significantly understated on Powerswitch compared to the average savings that customers on these plans actually see. They also ignore that the savings possible can be much larger than the average if customers take action to shift their power to cheaper times.

This mismatch provides a commercial barrier to this important evolution to power prices. ‘Peak prices’ are becoming ever more expensive over time and increasingly difficult to hedge (buy in advance). This is a big issue in the NZ market and it risks major increases in Kiwi’s power prices if it is not dealt with. The good news is that we are well placed as a nation to deal with it – we just need the industry to create smart solutions, and for consumers to understand their role (happily it does not take much).

TOU plans, like MoveMaster, that incentivise customers to shift load from these expensive times, are a great start. As well as saving customers money on their power bills, peak times are when we tend to use generation that causes worse outcomes for our climate. So if we can move more power off-peak, then we can simultaneously reduce power costs and create better outcomes for the environment. It’s not often we get a climate win without some associated downside, so this is a real winner!

So what now?

TOU plans are becoming ever more important as we start to see more electrification, especially the rapid uptakes of EVs, so it is important that the industry helps to promote these plans.

Powerswitch are currently conducting research into this issue, and claim to have improvements on the way. There is a balance between conservatively telling people what they could save based on a median (e.g. less than the average), but also educating customers about what is possible if they make a few simple changes to their power use.

Kiwis with pools or spas can automate their load to be off-peak; we can all try to use the dishwasher, dryer or washing machine off-peak; and if you are an EV driver, it is very important that you charge your car off-peak as much as possible (this includes public chargers, who disturbingly give no price signals at all to the market on time of day). We have already conducted a trial automating hot water heating to off-peak hours, saving our customers money with no downsides to the availability of hot water quality, and we are looking to roll this out to a much wider group later this year.

We all need to do our bit, and we challenge Powerswitch to play their role in the energy transition, and to get this right for Kiwis.

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We’ve been upfront about wanting to make things better for all Kiwis, not just our customers. We’re not afraid to call out the big guys or the industry in general when needed. We’ll take this award as a sign that our customers believe we’re on the right track. We walk the talk and deliver a no BS approach – apparently, just how our customers like it.

You may come across the question “Who’s the best power provider?” from time to time. Some may assume it’s about the battle of the cheapest, or interpret it as a question as to who’s the most reliable. In terms of the actual power itself, no matter which company you’re with, they’re all of the same quality. Electricity all comes from the same grid – which means if you’re experiencing a blackout, chances are your neighbours who are with other electric companies are out of power too. So when you’re looking for a power company, you might as well choose a business that provides the best power plan for your household and also comes with excellent customer service!

One of the ways we are trying to ‘make it better’ is with our time-of-use plan, Movemaster. We’ve been pretty vocal about the importance and benefits of load shifting, which we think is one of the most important ways our customers can support the energy transition and help to keep power prices lower for all kiwis. The MoveMaster plan offers cheaper off-peak rates, as well as half price power overnight (11pm – 7am) so it’s ideal for households that charge EVs, use heat pumps overnight, or simply want to save money by shifting their power usage.

We’re stoked to win this award. Apparently, the no BS approach really works for our customers.

As well as being rated the best of the bunch for customer satisfaction, we’re also keen to make things fairer for customers so we don’t have any contracts, exit fees or sneaky notice periods. You can also bundle your broadband with us and get quality service for both power AND broadband. (Yes, we also provide broadband. And yes, we also won an award for that this year!)

What’s the Canstar Blue award all about?

Canstar Blue is a professional research agency that helps consumers make better purchasing decisions. They ask for feedback about their experiences and translate those answers into star ratings. This feedback comes from a group of consumers that represents the general population in New Zealand. This year, Canstar Blue surveyed 5046 New Zealand customers, and the outcomes reported are from respondents who pay bills on an electricity account, in this case, it’s 3319 respondents. So, it’s not just about popularity, but a real measure of how people feel about their service providers. That’s why we think this award is very important.

It is Electric Kiwi’s third win of this award, which is a testament to our consistently excellent customer service, according to Canstar New Zealand General Manager Jose George,

“It’s brilliant to see Electric Kiwi taking home this win again – they’re a great local company, and their repeated wins of this award show they offer consistently excellent service. Congratulations to the team!”

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