A quick guide to understanding your power bill

What information is featured on my bill?

Most power bills break down into two main parts:

What you’re being charged for

This is the amount of electricity your household has used, shown in kilowatt-hours (kWh) — the way power use is measured. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) measures how much power, kilowatt (kW), is used per hour (h). 

For example, a kettle consumes up to 2400 watts of energy when it’s switched on - that’s 2.4kWh if it runs for an hour non-stop. Or, in a family home,  an average hot water cylinder will be on for 2-4 hours a day, which will consume around 8-12kWh per day. 

Depending on your plan, your usage may be split into different types, like ‘anytime’, ‘controlled’, or ‘off-peak’. If you have solar (or other generation), your bill will also show any excess power you’ve sold back to the grid.

How those charges are worked out

This section shows how your power company turns your usage into a dollar amount, which usually includes:

• Daily charge — a fixed daily fee for being connected to the network.
• Price per kWh — what you pay for each unit of power used.
• Metering fees — the cost of maintaining and reading your meter.
• Government levies — a compulsory charge that all households pay.

What other services does my power bill cover?

New Zealand’s electricity sector is made up of many different services working together, and your power bill reflects the cost of all of them.

Every time you pay a bill, you’re covering the combined effort of:

• Generating the electricity — power stations and generators that produce electricity and sell it on to power companies, who sell it on to you.
• Transmitting it across the country — moving that power through the high-voltage national grid.
• Delivering it locally — managing the lines company network that brings power right to your home.
• Maintaining meters and infrastructure — keeping your connection safe, accurate, and easily monitored.
• Retail services — the company that buys energy on your behalf, sets your plan, manages your account, handles billing, and provides customer support.

Extra resources to unpack the details

More information on your power bill

If you want to dive deeper, the Electricity Authority (Te Mana Hiko)External Link, opens in a new tab and Energy MateExternal Link, opens in a new tab explain how New Zealand power bills work, what each section means, and how charges are applied.

Specific power company support

All power companies present their bill information slightly differently. To learn more, visit their website or check out the Electricity Authority's guideExternal Link, opens in a new tab to your bill's usage, rates, and fees.

Understanding power jargon

Interested in the difference between kWh and ICP? We've put together a handy glossary of power bill terms that sometimes need a little more explaining.