Complaints about power and other essential household bills have climbed to a record high, in a fresh sign that the rising cost of living is wearing down New Zealand families. The independent scheme that handles disputes between consumers and their utility providers says formal complaints jumped 62 percent in the past year, and have now risen more than 500 percent over five years.
The figures come from the latest annual report by Utilities Disputes, the free and independent service that resolves complaints about electricity, gas, water and broadband providers. The scheme received 13,554 formal complaints in the 2025-26 financial year, up from around 8,400 the year before. On top of the formal complaints, more than 27,000 New Zealanders contacted the service for help over the same period.
Commissioner Neil Mallon said the surge reflected the pressure households are under rather than any single failing by one company. He said the increase was down to a combination of factors, including tough economic conditions, price increases and a growing willingness by consumers to push back when they feel they are not being treated fairly. As reported by LiveNews, Mallon said people are simply more motivated to pick up the phone and complain now that money is tight.
The affordability numbers tell the clearest story. Complaints specifically tied to affordability, where a customer is struggling to pay and is at risk of falling behind, have exploded. In 2021 the scheme logged just 90 affordability complaints for the whole year. In the most recent year that figure hit 1,029, an eleven-fold increase in the space of five years. It is a stark measure of how far power and water bills have moved beyond what many families can comfortably cover.
Billing problems remain the single biggest source of grief. Disputes over bills made up close to 47 percent of all complaints, covering disputed usage charges, confusing or unclear statements, and faulty meters that leave customers unsure what they are actually being asked to pay. Customer service issues featured in around 52 percent of complaints, with many cases involving more than one problem at once. In other words, a bill dispute often turns into a service complaint when a customer cannot get the provider to explain or fix the charge.
Mallon was blunt about where the scheme puts its energy. He said the most desperate cases are the ones facing a disconnection, and that is where the service steps in straight away. He said that at the really pointy end, the most desperate cases where a household is facing a disconnection, that is where they jump in and get involved immediately. Whether a customer can be helped often depends on them staying in contact with their power company rather than going quiet when a bill cannot be paid.
The timing sharpens the picture. The complaint numbers land in the same week the Reserve Bank lifted the Official Cash Rate to 2.5 percent, its first rise in more than three years, adding fresh pressure to mortgages and household budgets already stretched by higher electricity and grocery costs. For families choosing between a power bill and other essentials, a disputed charge or an unexpected price rise is no longer a minor annoyance. It is a real threat to staying connected.
Despite the flood of cases, the scheme says it is still turning complaints around quickly. It resolved 93 percent of formal complaints within 10 working days, and issued 4,536 complaint summaries to providers, the formal step that pushes a company to respond and put things right. Mallon said the scale of the caseload gives the service unusually detailed insight into what is going wrong across the sector. He said around 25,000 New Zealanders come to the service every year, which gives it very rich data on where problems are building.
One of the frustrations Mallon has raised repeatedly is how few people know the service exists, even though its contact details are printed on every energy bill. Utilities Disputes is free to use, independent of the companies it investigates, and funded by the industry itself under rules set out in government-backed schemes. A customer who cannot resolve a problem directly with their provider can escalate it to the scheme at no cost, and the provider is bound by the outcome.
The broader concern for the sector is what a 500 percent jump in five years says about the relationship between utility companies and their customers. Some of the rise is healthy, in the sense that more people now know their rights and are prepared to challenge a bad bill. But the affordability spike is harder to spin. When the number of households at genuine risk of disconnection climbs from 90 to more than 1,000 in five years, it points to a structural squeeze rather than a passing rough patch.
Power companies have pushed back on the framing that rising complaints reflect poor performance, arguing that higher wholesale costs, network charges and a growing customer base all feed into the numbers. As covered by B2B News, the surge has nonetheless reopened questions about how the industry treats customers who fall behind, and whether the current hardship and disconnection rules are keeping pace with the pressure on household budgets.
For consumers, the practical takeaway is simple. If a bill looks wrong, or a payment plan is out of reach, the advice from the scheme is to raise it early and stay in contact with the provider rather than let it slide. The households that get the best outcomes are the ones who ask for help before a disconnection notice arrives, not after.
Have you had a run-in with a power, water or broadband provider over a bill this year? Share your experience in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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