What to do if you cannot pay your power bill

A power bill that cannot be paid is not a niche problem, and it is not the same problem as a power bill that is annoying. This guide is about the first one.

The most important thing in it is the timing: contact your retailer before the due date, not after the reminders start. Everything available to you is easier to arrange at that point, and being in contact is what separates a customer with a difficulty from an account in collections.

What to ask for

A payment arrangement. Splitting the bill across a few pay cycles, or a smaller regular amount with a plan to catch up. Say what you can actually afford rather than agreeing to a number you will miss: a broken arrangement is worse than a smaller one that holds.

A change of billing date or frequency. Sometimes the problem is timing rather than amount. If your income arrives fortnightly and your bill is monthly, a smaller fortnightly payment can fix it outright.

A smoothed or levelised payment plan. A flat amount each month, squared up periodically. It does not reduce the total, but it stops winter arriving as one number.

A review of your plan. If your usage is genuinely low and you are on a standard-user plan, or you have a controlled circuit and are not being billed on it, you may be paying more than you need to. That is worth checking, though it is a smaller lever than the arrangements above.

The protections that exist

New Zealand retailers work under the Electricity Authority's Consumer Care Obligations. They cover how a retailer must engage with a customer who is having trouble paying, the steps required before disconnection for non-payment, and additional protection where someone in the household is medically dependent on mains electricity.

Two practical points:

• Get medical dependency recorded before you need it. It requires confirmation from a health practitioner, and it changes what the retailer may do. It is not a thing to organise in the middle of a crisis.
• Keep everything in writing where you can. Note who you spoke to and when, and ask for the arrangement to be confirmed by email. Most disputes about power arrears are disputes about what was agreed.

Where else to get help

Free financial mentoring is available in New Zealand and is genuinely useful: a mentor will talk to creditors on your behalf, and they do this every day. Work and Income can help in some circumstances, including with an unexpected essential bill. Which support applies depends on your situation, so ask rather than assume, and ask early.

We are a comparison site, not a support service, and we would rather point you at the people who do this properly than write a paragraph that sounds helpful and is not.

If the retailer will not engage

Complain to them in writing and give them the chance to resolve it. If it is not resolved, take it to Utilities Disputes, the free, independent complaints scheme for electricity and gas in New Zealand. It does not cost you anything and the retailer is bound by the outcome.

And afterwards

Once the immediate problem is dealt with, it is worth checking whether the plan is right for the household. The national average price as at May 2026 was 42.04c per kWh including GST, and we publish what each of the 42 towns MBIE surveys pays, including the share that is lines charges, which no switch can change. Comparing the part that can change is worth doing, but it is the step after the arrangement, not instead of it.