Can’t pay your power bill in New Zealand, your rights and where to get help

Last updated 4 July 2026. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.

In July last year, 12,075 New Zealand households had their power disconnected for non-payment, and 183 of them were cut off eleven or more times in that single month, according to the Electricity Authority’s disconnections data. Through 2025, roughly a thousand customers were disconnected every weekday. Mid-winter power debt is one of the most common money problems in the country, and it is exactly the situation the new consumer protection rules were written for.

This guide covers what your power company must do before it can disconnect you, the protection for medically dependent households, the prepay gap, and the money help most people never claim.

The rules changed in 2025

For years, how power companies treated struggling customers was governed by voluntary guidelines. That ended in 2025. The Consumer Care Obligations are now part of the Electricity Industry Participation Code, which makes them enforceable rules. The ban on knowingly disconnecting medically dependent consumers and the requirement that fees be reasonable took effect on 1 January 2025, and the rest followed on 1 April 2025.

The Electricity Authority monitors compliance and can enforce the rules. Its first annual compliance report, published in February 2026, found most retailers complying but with gaps and room for improvement, which is worth knowing when a retailer tells you something is “just policy”. The obligations are not policy. They are the law of the industry.

Call your retailer first

Counterintuitive as it feels when you are dodging their calls, your power company is the first call to make, because the obligations require them to work with you. That includes offering payment options, checking you are on the most suitable pricing plan, giving practical energy advice, and telling you about support services like Work and Income and budgeting help.

Ask for the hardship or customer care team, propose a weekly amount you can genuinely sustain, and ask them to confirm the arrangement by email or text. A payment plan you keep to takes disconnection off the table, and a written record protects you if anything is later disputed.

Power disconnection rules, the process they must follow

Disconnection is meant to be a last resort, and for standard billed accounts the Code sets out a minimum process. As Powerswitch and Consumer NZ summarise it, before disconnecting you the retailer must make at least five contacts:

1. The invoice itself.
2. A direct contact attempt within 14 days of the bill going overdue, to talk about payment options and support.
3. At least three further contact attempts, spread over more than seven days, once the bill is 21 days overdue.
4. A final disconnection notice, which cannot be issued earlier than 28 days after the original invoice.

Timing rules apply too. A retailer must not disconnect you just before a weekend or public holiday, or outside normal business hours, because you need to be able to get reconnected promptly. Disconnection and reconnection fees must be reasonable and reflect actual costs.

If any step in that chain was skipped, say so to the retailer, and if they proceed anyway, that is a complaint the ombudsman takes seriously.

What if you are on prepay power

Prepay is where the safety net has holes. When a prepay meter runs out of credit, the power goes off automatically, and the careful contact process above does not apply. The Electricity Authority’s data shows around 27,000 prepay disconnections a month affecting about 10,000 customers, most lasting under a day but with 60 per cent of those customers cut off more than once. Budgeting groups have criticised how little protection the obligations give prepay households.

If you are on prepay and repeatedly running out, three things are worth doing. Register as medically dependent if anyone in the house qualifies, because the no-disconnect duty still applies to prepay. Ask your retailer whether a standard plan with a payment arrangement would be cheaper and safer over winter. And check the money help below, because topping up in small amounts usually means missing the cheaper plans.

Medically dependent consumers

A medically dependent consumer is someone who depends on mains electricity for critical medical support, where losing supply could cause serious harm or death. Home oxygen, dialysis, ventilators and some feeding equipment are common examples. A retailer must never knowingly disconnect a household with a medically dependent consumer, on any meter type, for non-payment.

The word that matters is knowingly. The protection only applies once the retailer knows, so registration is everything. Ask your GP, hospital team or health practitioner for a Notice of Potential Medically Dependent Consumer Status, give it to your power company, and they will confirm your status using the Electricity Authority’s form. Health New Zealand’s guidance explains the process. Do it now, while nothing is wrong, and tell your retailer whenever you move house or switch companies.

Registration does not wipe the bill. The retailer can still pursue the debt, but the lights, and the machine that matters, stay on while you sort it out.

Money help you may not know about

The Winter Energy Payment is automatic if you receive NZ Super, a Veteran’s Pension or a main benefit. From 1 May to 1 October it adds $20.46 a week for a single person, and $31.82 a week for couples and for anyone with dependent children, including sole parents. There is no application and nothing to pay back.

Work and Income help with power debt comes in three forms, and naming the right one matters. A Special Needs Grant is a one-off payment you generally do not repay, available to beneficiaries and to working households under income and cash-asset limits. An Advance Payment of Benefit is for people on a benefit, paid ahead of your usual payments. A Recoverable Assistance Payment is the non-beneficiary equivalent, repayable but interest-free. Work and Income will usually want you to have tried a payment arrangement with the retailer first, so make that call before your appointment, and read our guide to challenging a Work and Income decision if you are turned down.

EnergyMate is a free in-home energy coaching service run by the retail industry with budgeting services, operating in a growing list of regions. A coach checks your plan, your heating and your usage, and can talk to your retailer with you. See energymate.nz for where it is available.

Warmer Kiwi Homes pays 50 to 90 per cent of the cost of ceiling and underfloor insulation, and up to 90 per cent of an approved heat pump, for owner-occupiers on lower incomes or in eligible areas, with funding confirmed to 30 June 2027. A warmer, drier house is the only permanent fix for an unaffordable power bill.

Could you be paying less

The obligations require your retailer to help you onto a plan that suits your situation, so ask them directly whether you are on their cheapest suitable plan. Then check them against the market on Powerswitch, the free Consumer NZ comparison site. New Zealand power prices are high by international standards, a problem the OECD called structural, but the spread between plans for an identical household is still often several hundred dollars a year. Our explainer on how the electricity system works covers why.

One caution, if you owe your current retailer money, some companies will not accept a switch until the debt is cleared, so ask before you commit.

If the retailer treats you badly

Complain to the retailer in writing first, say the word complaint, and keep a copy. The company generally has 20 working days to resolve it with you.

If it is not fixed, go to Utilities Disputes on 0800 22 33 40, the free and independent ombudsman for power and gas complaints. Skipped disconnection steps, unreasonable fees, failures to offer payment support and mishandled medically dependent registrations all belong there. You can also report breaches of the Consumer Care Obligations to the Electricity Authority, which monitors retailer compliance and has already told the industry it sees room for improvement. If a debt collector gets involved along the way, our guide to what debt collectors can and cannot do covers that front.

Common questions

How much notice must I get before a power disconnection

For a standard billed account, at least five contacts including a final disconnection notice that cannot be issued earlier than 28 days after the unpaid invoice, with a direct contact attempt within 14 days of the bill going overdue and at least three more attempts after 21 days. Prepay meters disconnect automatically without this process.

Can they disconnect me in winter

Yes. There is no seasonal ban on disconnection in New Zealand. Your protections are the required process, the last-resort principle, the timing rules around weekends and holidays, and the absolute bar on knowingly disconnecting medically dependent households.

What if I have children at home

Having children does not make a household immune from disconnection. The obligations require retailers to take extra care with consumers in vulnerable circumstances, which includes offering support and checking for alternatives, but the only absolute no-disconnect rule is for registered medically dependent consumers.

Can they charge disconnection and reconnection fees

Yes, but since 1 January 2025 all fees must be reasonable and reflect the actual cost of the service. A fee that looks like a penalty is worth challenging with the retailer and then with Utilities Disputes.

Do I need to apply for the Winter Energy Payment

No. If you receive NZ Super, a Veteran’s Pension or a main benefit on 1 May, it starts automatically and runs to 1 October. The details are in the money help section above.

Where to get free help

Money pressure rarely arrives alone. Our guides to KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals and what happens when you cannot pay fines cover the other fronts.

Have you dealt with a disconnection notice or a retailer hardship team? What worked and what did not? Share your experience in the comments, it could keep someone else’s lights on this winter.