In the 12 days since the launch of the Electricity Authority’s ‘What’s My Number’ campaign, approximately 118,000 consumers have visited the website to find out how much they can save on their electricity bills. This represents estimated potential savings for New Zealanders of over $19 million.

The `What’s My Number’ campaign, conducted by the Authority in partnership with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Consumer NZ, aims to help New Zealanders make more informed choices about their electricity suppliers.

The www.whatsmynumber.org.nz website enables people to quickly identify their estimated savings using a simple calculator. People wanting to access the estimated savings can then link to Consumer NZ’s Powerswitch site www.powerswitch.org.nz to confirm a new retail deal and initiate the switch to a new retailer.

The campaign was prompted by the fact that consumers’ inclination to change retailers was low – surveys showed only 5% of eligible New Zealanders were actively looking at switching electricity providers, but the research also indicated that 50% said they would switch if approached with a better deal.

“The sheer number of consumers accessing the website has far exceeded our expectations” said Authority Chief Executive, Carl Hansen.

“This is a very promising start to our campaign to encourage consumers to proactively shop around for electricity. The greater the number of active shoppers the greater the competitive pressure on electricity retailers” said Authority Chief Executive, Carl Hansen.

The Powerswitch website which supports the campaign is operated by Consumer NZ. Sue Chetwin, CEO of Consumer, says “we were overwhelmed by the response to the campaign which shows how relevant saving money is for people right now. Heavy traffic to the www.powerswitch.org.nz website was initially a challenge and we are pleased to say the site is flying along now, with more people visiting each day, and over 5,500 households having initiated a switch of retailer since the start of the campaign.”

For more information visit www.whatsmynumber.org.nz.