Consumers given right to request consumption data from power retailers

Thursday, 4 February 2016

Consumers now have the right to request more information about their household's power consumption and it is being tipped to lead to a new industry of power price comparison services.

From February 1, a change to the Electricity Industry Participant Code means retailers have to provide consumers with information on the power consumption data they used over the past 24 months to calculate a household's bills.

They must also share the details of all their generally-available price plans.

Consumers can request the data by writing to or phoning their retailer. The information must then be delivered within five business days. Consumers can also authorise an agent to request the information for them.

**READ MORE: [Shopping around can yield big savings on power

](http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/71521196/Power-shopping-can-yield-big-savings-for-your-electricity-bill)**Those with a smart meter can drill down to their half-hourly power consumption to work out which times of the day contribute the most to their power bills.

Carl Hansen, chief executive of the Electricity Authority, said it would give consumers more confidence if they decided to change power companies.

'Under the current arrangement they can go to [Consumer NZ-run comparison website] Powerswitch and put their information in there about their family, work and so on and produce a profile,' he said.

'What they will be able to do now is they can get their own consumption data specific to their own circumstances so if they go and ask for other pricing options and they are told they can save $350 a year [by switching] they can be a lot more confident that those savings are actually going to happen.'

Many people checked Powerswitch but did not go through with the decision to move to a new retailer, even if they were told they could save, he said. 'People tend to prevaricate. This should help consumers be more confident about the price offers and choices available.'

In 2015, 419,000 consumers switched providers, compared to 388,000 in 2011 when the 'What's My Number' campaign began, resulting in potential savings of more than $24 million last year.

More than 1.8 million consumers have switched providers since 2011, with total estimated savings valued at $207 million.

Ari Sargeant, chief executive of Powershop, welcomed the move. He said some retailers had been hesitant to disclose all the details of their available plans and consumers' power use. 'This will definitely help people make a comparison. Provision of historic usage data means customers have better information to understand their usage patterns and choose the right plan.'

Sue Chetwin, chief executive of Consumer NZ, said it was good that the information was being made more readily available. But she said it should be supplied to everyone, not just the customers who requested it.

Hansen expected the move would put more competitive pressure on providers to offer innovative deals for consumers. 'It could lead to better pricing. The way consumers can use the data to their advantage is to request the data from their retailer along with their ICP number [which can be found on a bill] and send that to a selection of retailers, asking them to quote what it would cost for a year based on the consumption data.

'That's right now. In the near future we expect price comparison websites or apps to start up that would make it super-easy for people.'

Helping consumers to understand the information would be vital, he said.

The apps could provide alerts to customers, based on their data, which would tell them when another provider had a deal that would save them a significant amount.

 'The real benefits will start to be seen when there is more innovation from apps and price comparison websites.  It's reasonably techy information, people will look at the consumption data and probably not everyone will understand it but there will be services that make it simple.'

The half-hourly data would help people understand whether it was worth switching to a provider such as Flick, which passes on variable wholesale rates.

Chetwin said whether more comparison sites provided a better service for consumers would remain to be seen. She said it would only be helpful if the sites were unbiased.

Powerswitch will lose its Government funding in the middle of the year and Consumer NZ is investigating other ways to keep it running.

'In our view, the best option for consumers is having access to a free and impartial comparison site where they can easily compare power plans. Requiring electricity retailers to publish pricing plans on their websites, not just provide the information to those who request it, would also improve transparency.'

Sergeant agreed there could be a problem if sites were set up that were paid commission by retailers. 'There needs to be a way for consumers to know if the advice they are getting is independent and reliable or not.'

Energy analyst Molly Melhuish said the data could be used in future to target households that were using a lot of power, to offer advice on how to cut their use and to help them install equipment such as insulation to reduce their power bills.

Mother-of-two Justine Lawson said she would appreciate more information about what her household uses. She said, before her smart meter was installed, she received actual bills that were double the estimate. 

She had noticed that Genesis was a cheaper power option for her family than Contact, which they had previously been with and had usually charged about $400 a month.

Her monthly power bills are now about $200 for a household of four. Lawson said she would be open to shopping around if it was possible to get a better deal.  'You'd be shocked at the comparison of bills. But they could provide better information on all bills.'

Another woman, Jaime Lee, said she had found it hard to get any details on her bills from her supplier. 'They don't give you a lot of information and if they do, they pretty much tell you you look it up online.'