The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko is an independent Crown entity that was established on 1 November 2010 under the Electricity Industry Act 2010. The purpose of the Authority is to enhance New Zealanders’ lives, prosperity and environment through electricity.

The Authority have a set of Consumer Care Obligations that we as an electricity provider must abide by to ensure you, as a household in New Zealand, receive a consistent and supportive level of service. You can learn more about the Electricity Authority, and the Consumer Care Obligations here.

Reducing the amount of energy, you use can have a positive impact on your life and Aotearoa. By doing a few simple things and making small changes to your home and your household appliances, you can save power and reduce your power bills.

The Electricity Authority have some great tips to help you set up your home to save power, money and the environment. You can read more about them here or give them a call on 04 460 8860.

Paying for the essentials shouldn’t be putting you in a financial burden. If you find yourself unable to pay your bill please call our Customer Care teams, and we will work with you to find a solution. Or, alternatively there are free services such as MoneyTalks that provide assistance to New Zealanders looking for financial mentorship and services to help you out of financial hardship. You can contact them by calling 0800 345 123 or visiting https://www.moneytalks.co.nz/

If you’re an Orcon Power customer and got an email from us about changes to your power rates, check out more helpful info here.

• Why are my power rates changing?

  The price you pay for electricity is made up of a few different parts, like the cost of generating the power you use and getting it to your premises, to reading and maintaining your electricity meter. Every year, we review all the costs of providing electricity and update our power rates.

  The costs we pay to electricity generators have increased significantly over the last year. This makes up a significant part of what you pay and affects all power providers, as everyone must purchase electricity from these electricity generators. Costs from lines companies, which maintain the infrastructure that delivers power to your premises, have also increased.

  For Low Users, see “What’s happening with Low User rates?” below on why your Fixed Daily Charge rate is now changing.

• When are my rates changing?

  Refer to the email we sent you about the rate change to find out when your new rates take effect.

• What does my power bill pay for?

  Visit the Electricity Authority’s website for a breakdown of the costs an average household power bill contributes to and more about electricity pricing and rates.

• What’s happening with Low User rates?

  The Government is phasing out the Low Fixed Charge Tariff regulations over a 5-year period to create a fairer, more equitable system. This means you'll see an increase in your Fixed Daily Charge rates if you're on a Low User plan. You can find out more about the changes here.

• Will my discounts change?

  No, any discounts you’re getting will continue to apply.

• Can I change plans?

  You can change between Low User and Standard plans once a year in My Orcon.

  Deciding between Low User and Standard can be tricky. Learn more about your options here. When choosing between Low User or Standard, bear in mind that the Government is phasing out Low Fixed Charge Tariff regulations over a 5-year period. You can read more about that here.

Our Residential Power Consumer Care policy complies with the Electricity Authority retailer obligations. It is a guide to how we can work together to help you as a Orcon power customer and outlines our commitments to you as your electricity retailer, how to help you manage your electricity costs, and more. You can read our full policy here.

Compare your power options

Powerswitch is a free and independent energy price comparison tool offered by Consumer NZ. The reason you won’t find Orcon on this tool is because the tool can’t handle displaying bundle discounts. We urge you to factor in any discounts we offer if you use Powerswitch to compare energy providers.

If you have questions about our Consumer Care policy, or our compliance with the consumer care obligations you can get in touch with our customer care team

Add power to your broadband plan and enjoy great value with our bundled power discount. You can save 10% off your base broadband plan and 10% off your power costs. Awesome!

This applies to your base broadband, homeline, and power plan but excludes any additional charges such as add-ons, overage, and toll calls.

Please note

The bundle discount for broadband and power replaced our prompt payment discount as of the 23rd of March, 2020 for new customers, and from 12th May 2021 for existing customers (an email was sent to all existing customers in April 2021 advising of the change to the bundled discount)

Need something else?

Check out our power page for more information or simply get in touch!

Switching your power to Orcon is easy and will usually only take a few days.

We recommend checking if you're under contract with your current power provider as there may be a fee if you switch.

Ready to switch? If you're new to Orcon, you can sign up online or give us a call on 0800 56 46 87 to get started. If you're already with us, easily add power to your account online in My Orcon.

It is important you let us know immediately if you or a family member are medically dependent on power, and requires the use of mains electricity for critical medical support (uses an approved life support machine), and any disconnection may result in loss of life or serious harm.

We will request evidence of medical dependency – you and your doctor or health provider need to complete the form below and return it to us by emailing info@email.orcon.net.nz
Click here to download a copy of the Medical Dependency Form

What will happen next?

Once we receive the completed form, we will make a note on your account.

You will receive a confirmation email to confirm that are now on our medical register.

We will contact you as soon as we become aware of any planned power outages that may affect the property listed.

During a power outage...

We suggest you refer to your emergency backup plan.

Or

Contact your local health provider to find out what your options are during the outage.

When power cuts are planned, for example to work on power lines, we will endeavour to give you advanced notice.

If you have any questions regarding Medical Dependency and your electricity, just get in contact with our friendly customer service team, and we’ll be happy to help you out. The Electricity Authority also have information available on their website: ea.govt.nz

Electricity charges consist of two components – a Fixed Daily charge (usually quoted in cents per day), and a Variable Usage charge (usually quoted in cents per unit of kWh [kilowatt hours]). Each bill has cost that’s made up of the fixed charge multiplied by the number of days within the billing period, and the variable charge multiplied by the power used over the period (or an estimate of this number). In some cases, you may have more than one variable charge related to different types of supply.

Electricity retailers are charged a levy by the Electricity Authority. Your old bill may show an “EA Levy”. The EA levy is small and we have chosen to include it within our variable charges rather than splitting it out separately.

The other factor that will impact the price is the choice between a Standard plan or a Low User plan. Click here to read more about that.

Compare your power options

Powerswitch is a free and independent energy price comparison tool offered by Consumer NZ. The reason you won’t find Orcon on this tool is because the tool can’t handle displaying bundle discounts. We urge you to factor in any discounts we offer if you use Powerswitch to compare energy providers.