It’s called www.powerswitch.org.nz and all you need is your latest power bill. You enter in information from the bill about how much power (gas and electricity) you use. It takes just a couple of minutes to do and then you get a list showing the cheapest plan for your power use.

After that it’s your choice. If you want to change companies you can click on a link and get in contact with the new company. After that the new company will take care of everything for you.

The website takes all the hard work out of calculating the best plan for you. It can even be difficult to know how many companies are operating in your area. The cheapest plan depends on how much power you use, where you live and how you use your electricity. If you don’t have your power bill handy you can use the quick calculator to estimate how much you can save.

Powerswitch gets up-to-date information from the different power companies to give you accurate results. The results also tell you how much money you can save every year from changing your power company. It could be as much as a couple of hundred dollars, or just enough to buy some more yarn for your draft stoppers. According to Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin, a large household in Christchurch could save $903 a year and a medium sized household in Wellington could save about $478.

So visit  www.powerswitch.org.nz to see if you could save money today. Even if you find you’re already on the best plan for you, check back with powerswitch from time to time, especially if you get a price increase,move house, have a new baby or the kids leave home.

Powerswitch is an independent service brought to you by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Consumer NZ.

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