Retail market
For most New Zealand electricity customers, there's a lot of retailers and brands to buy electricity from.
About the retail market
You can choose to buy electricity from lots of different power companies (retailers), depending on your location.
The largest retailers supply more than 80% of residential customers. Each retailer sets their own prices. You can choose the best combination of price, product and service that suits your needs. See if you can save, use Powerswitch's free, independent energy-price comparison service.
Our role
What we do
We're responsible for the rules and processes behind the accuracy of metering, meter reading and switching power companies.
We work to reduce barriers to new retailers entering the market to increase competition and give households and businesses more choice across New Zealand.
We're not responsible for regulating retailers' prices or for investigating complaints about retailers or distributors.
Electricity registry
The electricity registry is a national database that contains information on around two million installation connection points in New Zealand. It supports hundreds of thousands of consumers switching electricity retailers every year.
New participant?
Find out how to register and participate in the electricity industry.
More about the retail market
Learn about how different parts of the retail market operate and interact, our responsibilities and industry participants' obligations. This section includes general information, as well as more technical information for industry participants.
Audits and certifications
All industry participants are required to provide us with audit information. This provides assurance that buyers are correctly invoiced for purchases and that sellers comply with legislation.
Metering
We're responsible for electricity metering standards and requirements. We approve test houses to calibrate, certify, install and maintain metering installations in accordance with the Code.
Reconciliation
Reconciliation is the process of how electricity flowing in the power system is accurately allocated to buyers and sellers for invoicing. The reconciliation process is set out in Parts 10 and 15 of the Code.
Retailers' obligations
Retailers must comply with their industry obligations as set out in the Code. We have industry guidelines to support retailers to implement best practice.
Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010
The rules for all industry participants.
Report a breach
Industry participants are obliged by law to report all Code breaches.
The place to go for all electricity data
