energy providers in nz

[Burgundy21]

A kind of not very interesting but vital question: I have gathered a lot of the power used in NZ is electricity, is this correct? If so does the consumer have a choice of 'provider', can we change if we want, and importantly, in a rental do we just accept what is there already? France only has one electricity provider but I know in UK there seem to be several. Is any central heating oil fired and are heat pumps geo thermal?

See, it is a bit dry but we are coming from a land of wood burners and wind turbines!:

[Taffy]

Hi,

Most energy is electricity, or gas if it's available in your area. You can choose whichever energy provider you like - even in a rental house - there are several around.

Central heating? You wont find much of that in NZ, whatever powers it! Heatpumps are also electricity powered, and most run with inverters for efficiency.

There's still plenty of log burners and windturbines in NZ!

[MotherBear]

Here's a little toy to play around with if you want to play around with power providers and power options. There's some interesting links on the left to delve into.

If we're talking eco-friendly, NZ is making moves to bring in a lot more wind farms to help generate electricity. Whether there'll be an uproar because folks don't like them looming over them or not, who's to say?

[Ace]

Where we live in Nelson, we're connected to the main electrical grid. Folks who live in the more rural areas, like on the west coast, aren't always so lucky.

There are several electricity providers to choose from: Contact Energy, Meridian and Trust Power are the main ones around here. I chose Trust Power partly because most their energy generation is from renewable sources, like wind and hydro.

One thing that will have an impact on your electricity costs that we didn't know enough to ask about in advance is the kind and number of meters hooked up at your house. Some homes have 3 meters, with different appliances hooked to each and associated rules on the power company side for when they can be turned off, etc. The more control the power company has, the cheaper the power.

We also have natural gas, for cooking only -- there are several energy vendors to choose from for that as well. Unlike where we lived in the States, gas here is provided in two large tanks that sit in our side-yard. We actually pay more per month to rent the tanks than we do for gas...