By Tony Field
With the cost of living rising, people are looking for ways to make savings and Sally Sheridan can vouch for the benefits of switching power companies. She reckons she's cut her bill by 20 percent.
“I’m very happy with my new supplier, and I haven't recently had a letter from anybody else, and I don’t think that would change my mind,” she says.
But it seems she might be in the minority, as the Electricity Authority says only 5 percent of people will actively look for a cheaper deal on their power bill, although 50 percent of people say they'll switch if a rival company comes to them offering better prices.
“It's too much of a hassle, and it's hard to know when you change whether you are getting any benefits, whether it is cheaper or not, it is hard to compare apples and apples I guess,” says power customer Gordon Davenport.
So a campaign's been launched encouraging people to shop around. The ‘what's my number’ website allows people to calculate their potential savings - and in conjunction with Consumer New Zealand’s powerswitch website, switch companies.
Consumer New Zealand’s Sue Chetwin says people should consider switching now before winter really hits.
The Electricity Authority says that the average household would have saved $150 last year by switching to the company offering the best deal. Nationally that equates to savings of $240 million.
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