Be conscious of your electricity bill despite the suggestion of spring

Spring is here, but New Zealanders should still be conscious of their electricity bills says the Electricity Authority.

“Even though the seasons are changing, New Zealanders need to ensure they’re aware of their electricity costs,” says Authority Chief Executive, Carl Hansen.

“We may be experiencing warmer weather but our climate is unpredictable and we might find ourselves needing to switch on heaters and dryers for some time yet.”

The ‘What’s My Number’ campaign is designed for New Zealanders to check they are on the most cost effective plan for their electricity usage in every season.

The 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 by visiting the websitewww.whatsmynumber.org.nz.

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

In just three months, more than 127,000 consumers have switched electricity retailers, which is 44% more than for the same period last year. The large jump in switching volumes appears largely due to the ‘What’s My Number’ campaign. New Zealanders using the website www.whatsmynumber.org.nz have performed over 400,000 calculations to identify potential savings of around $62 million on their electricity bills.

“The growing number of New Zealanders making the switch confirms that word is getting out there regarding how easy it is to check potential savings and change suppliers if you find a better deal,” says Hansen.

“The response to the ‘What’s My Number’ campaign continues to motivate electricity retailers to sharpen their pencils and provide more competition – a key objective of the Authority.”

Some of the statistics from the campaign to date include:

 

Metric	Numbers
Number of unique visitors towww.whatsmynumber.org.nz	402,654
Potential estimated savings	$62.5 million
Switches for June 2011	43,920 (Daily average 1,464 an increase of 58% over June 2010)
Switches for July 2011	42,305 (Daily average 1,365 an increase of 37% over July 2010)
Switches for August 2011	41,741(Daily average 1,347 an increase of 39% over August 2010)

 

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