Electricity Authority launches power comparison site Billy

Electricity Authority chief executive Sarah Gillies.

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ

The Electricity Authority has launched its power comparison site Billy, going head-to-head with Consumer’s Powerswitch, which it previously supported.

It said the site was designed to help people quickly and easily understand their power costs and what would constitute good value for their households.

Authority chief executive Sarah Gillies said it built on other changes to improve competition.

“Electricity is a lifeline, not a luxury. It warms our homes, powers our lives and connects us to opportunity. But for too many people, it’s a source of stress.

“Heading into winter, many households will face an increase to their power bill. It’s more important than ever to check whether your plan is delivering good value for your household, and whether you could save money with a better deal.”

The authority previously ran the What’s My Number comparison site, which merged with Powerswitch in 2019.

It then funded Powerswitch with about $1.4 million a year, but announced last year that was coming to an end.

The authority said the upfront investment for Billy was $2.5m. Running costs would average $1.1m a year.

Gillies said the authority wanted to build something for the future.

“It’s built with open energy in mind and the ability to provide a simple tool for New Zealand consumers to give them trust and confidence in making choices about what power plan they’re on and making sure they’re on the right plan for their household.

“As a regulator, you know, we’ve got this responsibility to make sure that New Zealanders are empowered to be able to get the best possible deal and get the best out of the electricity market.

“There’s a number of things we do to support people in that. Billy’s one of the things that we do, but we’ve also made some recent decisions to require power companies to make their bills simpler.”

She said research showed that some people found their bills difficult to understand and that switching could be a barrier.

Most retailers would be featured on the site from the beginning, she said.

The site does not receive a payment from companies when users switch to them, as Powerswitch does.

Powerswitch general manager Paul Fuge said it was challenging to run the service and to produce reliable and accurate results.

“In our experience, consumer trust is key. The Government profits significantly from its majority ownership of three of the four gentailers; this could raise questions in the minds of some consumers as to the impartiality of a Government-run site, and a perception that the site favours Government-owned entities, whether this is true or not.

“The reason Consumer NZ was approached by the Government to operate Powerswitch over 25 years ago was because we are truly independent.

“We intend to stick around, particularly given the challenges consumers are facing due to rising power prices and a market that is not delivering good outcomes for them. Consumers need advice from a truly independent source that doesn’t have a dog in the race.”