How does our pricing work?
Wellington Electricity (WE*) are the distribution (lines) company responsible for managing the poles, wires and equipment in the Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt areas. Our prices and quality standards are regulated under Part 4 of the Commerce Act which is governed by the Commerce Commission.
Lines company pricing can be a little complex to understand, especially when for the majority of cases it is charged to retailers rather than directly to consumers of electricity. This area takes you through some of our pricing concepts. Information on our current and previous years' pricing can be found in the pages underneath this page.
What makes up my electricity bill?
It’s useful to understand that the electricity market in New Zealand is made up of a number of suppliers:
- Generators (companies making the electricity)
- A Transmission company (Transpower, who transport electricity around the country)
- Distributors (lines companies within your local region); and
- Retailers (who retail energy to your home or business).
Transpower’s charges (transmission charges) are added to our charges (distribution charges) to make up what are called “lines charges”. Transpower’s charges make up about 10% of the electricity bill. Retailers re-package these distribution and transmission charges, along with other costs into the final retail pricing they offer their customers.
Our 2022/23 Pricing (from 1 April 2022) can be found here.
Key terms
The following list of terms are concepts that are useful to understand when reading our pricing notices:
All Inclusive
A single price for all the household power used, with power to the hot water cylinder controlled.
Capacity
Capacity refers to a charge related to the highest amount of energy the site is capable of using during a month, or the customer has elected to use over that same period. You are paying a fee to ensure that the electricity you might use is there for you when you need to use it, whenever you need to use it.
Controlled
A discounted price for an appliance which we can temporarily turn off (such as a hot water cylinder).
Daily
A fixed daily charge.
Demand
Demand charges are fees applied for the highest amount of power drawn during a time period. The type of demand charge will vary depending on whether it is "anytime" (any time during the day/week) or on-peak (specific periods of the day/week when our network is busy).
Night Boost
A discounted price for an appliance which only receives power for a limited number of (mostly night-time) hours, such as a night store heater.
Peak/Off-Peak
Times at which power is more expensive/cheaper, depending on the time of day/night.
Power Factor
Power factor is a way of measuring how efficiently electrical current is being converted into useful power. Low power factor can lead to lower than ‘normal’ voltages and can consequently cause performance issues for network users and negatively impact network equipment. Power factor charges incentivise consumers to take steps to correct their power factor.
Uncontrolled
A single price for all the household power used.
Time of Use Pricing
Want to find out more about Time of Use pricing? Click here.
To help improve our service, what feedback can you give us about this page?