Strengthening visibility of disconnections in the retail electricity market

The Electricity Authority has published a disconnections for non-payment dashboard. It includes prepay disconnections and shows how often and how long customers are disconnected – data we didn’t previously collect or report.

The data comes from a new information notice that requires electricity retailers to provide monthly data on domestic and small business consumer data to us.

This dashboard is part of our work to strengthen monitoring and accountability in New Zealand’s retail electricity market and support better outcomes for consumers.

Disconnections for non-payment insights

Here’s what the dashboard shows from January to October 2025:

Postpay accounts

• An average of 810 disconnections per month, affecting less than 0.1% of postpay customers
• 44% of disconnections (where duration was available) lasted less than one day
• Disconnections per month declined by 36% (from 1,025 in January to 661 in October)

Prepay accounts

• An average of 27,000 disconnections per month, affecting about 10,000 prepay customers (about 35% of prepay customers), with 58% disconnected more than once
• 94% of disconnections (where duration was available) lasted less than one day. Internal analysis suggests that most of these disconnections lasted less than three hours
• Disconnections per month remained generally stable. They were higher in the winter months and 9.5% lower in October than in January.

Retailers are required to follow the Consumer Care Obligations to help customers stay connected. Before disconnecting a customer for non-payment, retailers must comply with specific obligations set out in the Electricity Industry Participation Code.

The dashboard presents emerging evidence the Consumer Care Obligations are achieving the intended effect – contributing to fewer postpay disconnections.

Understanding postpay versus prepay disconnections

To understand these insights, it is important to recognise the difference between postpay and prepay disconnections. New Zealand has around two million electricity connections, and most customers (98.6%) are on postpay rather than prepay plans.

Postpay disconnections for non-payment occur only after a customer hasn’t paid their bill, despite the contact attempts, support offers and notices required (under the Code).

Prepay disconnections occur automatically when credit runs out or falls below the approved credit limit. Short, frequent disconnections are common, and reflect the pay-as-you-go nature of prepay - they do not necessarily indicate a gap in customer care. For many households, prepay provides greater control, flexibility and a way to avoid debt.

Tracking disconnections to improve consumer outcomes

The dashboard provides valuable insights into consumer care practices and helps identify where some prepay customers may be facing energy hardship. We are working with retailers, social sector agencies and community groups to build a deeper understanding of what’s behind these patterns, particularly for prepay customers, and where extra support may be needed to improve consumer outcomes.

MBIE’s Energy Hardship Report also provides data and insights on the factors contributing to energy hardship and how it is measured in New Zealand.

The dashboard will be updated every month with the latest data to track seasonal trends. We will also add more detailed and regional information, to show patterns and drivers more clearly and use these insights to inform our work.

This is the first consumer data we are releasing from the new information notice. We look forward to sharing more data in the coming months and using the insights to inform debate, and strengthen protections and outcomes for all consumers.

View disconnections for non-payment dashboard