Campaign see thousands switching electricity supplier

File photo

Almost 50,000 consumers have switched electricity suppliers following the launch of a campaign last month to help households reduce their power bills, the Electricity Authority says.

The What's My Number campaign encourages consumers to find and switch to the cheapest energy retailer in their region.

Last month 45,974 consumers switched supplier, compared to 28,808 in June last year.

"New Zealanders are taking advantage of an easy way to check whether they can get a better deal for their power, and then proactively shopping around for new electricity suppliers," authority chief executive Carl Hansen said.

"Having 1532 people switching to a better deal each day is stimulating competition and we are seeing signs of retailers improving offers and increasing efforts to recruit and retain consumers."

In all, 226,419 consumers have visited the campaign website, www.whatsmynumber.org.nz, to calculate their potential savings.

The watchdog's research found the average household could have saved $150 last year by switching to the cheapest available retailer, saving $240m nationwide.

- NZPA