A statement from Powerswitch released on Tuesday said there was a large variance of power prices across the country and a high number of plans offered by power companies.
Information from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed Balclutha had the highest charge per kilowatt hour at 50.31c.
Dunedin was at 39.64c, Invercargill 37.32c, Cromwell 46.84c and Queenstown was at 40.25c.
Powerswitch general manager Paul Fuge said Kerikeri had the highest power price last year but statistics for the latest quarter, which ended in February, showed it was now Balclutha.
It was hard to quantify why Balclutha was so expensive but usually many places which had a large area and a low population had higher prices.
Mr Fuge said Balclutha people might just assume their price was normal and not change.
‘‘You do find lower switching in those areas which is a bit of a paradox, right? You think high-priced areas would have higher switching rates, but they don't for various reasons,’’ he said.
‘‘The original retailer of the area tends to still have the dominant market share.
‘‘If they're at a high price, it tends to affect the price in the area in general.’’
Prices across the country have increased by 20% over the past two years, adjusting for inflation.
‘‘That's a big jump for an essential service and that's why we're seeing increasing numbers of people struggling to pay their power bill because it's just such a large rise so quickly. So 12% last year and then another 8% or more this year.
‘‘What we're seeing though is a lot more switching.
‘‘Switching has jumped up 30% this month.’’
The cost of living was so high people had to consider changing companies to save money.
People wrongly assumed everyone was paying the same price, he said.
‘‘The price rises will change according to which retailer you're with and what sort of plan you're on.’’
People did not realise how much difference there was between plans and how much they could save.
He said a fear of switching was behind many people not wanting to move companies.
‘‘People perceive it to be difficult. The reality is it's actually really easy and there's lots of rules because electricity is an essential service.
‘‘There's lots of rules around it so you won't be cut off by changing.’’
Bundling power with other services made it difficult to change for many people, he said.
Nearly a-third of households bundle with a non-energy service.
Many people also get caught out by a change in lifestyle and circumstances. They might buy a electric vehicle and not realise it was being charged at a higher rate.
Getting free power at night may be good if you have a late-night lifestyle but would be impacted if that changed to you being at home during the day.
Mr Fuge said there were 12,500 power plans in New Zealand.
‘‘It's overwhelming for people and it's confusing and you'd say for a country of 5 million people do we need 12,500 power plans? A lot of people just find it too complex and too hard.’’
Plans were changing all the time as were the circumstances of people so people should consider changing regularly.
Powerswitch is owned and operated by Consumer NZ. Powerswitch is primarily funded by the Electricity Authority and also receives switching fees paid by retailers when users switch providers.
