General news
Prime Energy customers transferred to new retailers
- Consumers
- Retail
All 325 customers of defaulted retailer Prime Energy Ltd have transferred to other retailers.
Some of Prime Energy’s customers had voluntarily switched to other retailers since it was announced the retailer had defaulted on 2 May 2025. Yesterday, the Authority assigned the remaining customers to other retailers.
Prime Energy customers were mostly industrial and commercial consumers. No customers were disconnected during this switch.
The Authority’s trader default process outlines how customers are assigned to new retailers. Through this process, other retailers were assigned to Prime Energy’s customers.
As there were a large number of Prime’s business customers to assign, we based the final allocation on the customer’s size (volume of energy consumed), relative to a retailer’s market share. Where feasible, we also assigned all installation control points (ICPs) associated with a single customer to the same retailer.
The Authority triggered its trader default process on 24 April 2025 after Prime Energy failed to meet its prudential payment obligations.
Prudential payments provide security to generators to ensure their invoices are paid for electricity that has been bought and consumed.
While retailers can exit the market for a range of reasons, we acknowledge the competition concerns raised by independent retailers and other participants and are committed to making it easier to enter and compete in our electricity market. We know consumers will benefit from increased competition and are focused on achieving this outcome, including via Energy Competition Task Force initiatives.
For more information:
Customer support
Managing the trader default situation
Prudential security
Related News
Technical consultation opens on improvements to industry switching processes
The Electricity Authority has made a provisional decision to amend the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010 to modernise electricity switching processe…
Authority unlocks more choice for consumers with new and improved data standards
The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko has announced new information-sharing protocols to standardise and improve access to electricity plans, products and usa…
Guidance published on LRMC-based distribution rebates and updated eligibility of business consumers
The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko has published guidance giving distributors practical advice about how to calculate long run marginal cost and use it whe…