We’re looking forward to bringing New Zealanders excellent local service and affordable electricity solutions that make it easier for them to play a part in a cleaner energy future. 

Octopus Energy employs over 100 people here in NZ and for the last two years we’ve all been working on delivering awesome customer experiences for energy consumers around the globe. We’re proudly serving over three million customers (and growing) across our retail businesses in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Japan and the USA and we’re delighted to add New Zealand to the list. 

We’re also investing in renewable energy around the globe and want to support efforts big and small to develop new renewables here in New Zealand - that includes backing our customers' efforts with a market leading solar buy back rate of 17c.

To help our customers we’re applying our smarts (and 8 arms) to make managing your energy needs easy as! We don't just pump out bills. We bring our global perspective and experience helping customers to New Zealand. We want to help you with solutions that are better for your wallet and the planet. For a start we’ll make sure all our customers are on competitively priced electricity plans that pass on the benefits of off-peak pricing. Off peak and nights are also generally when more low emission renewable generation operating, so you save money and charge the EV or crank the heat pump with less worry about the planet and your wallet.

We also want to help our customers switch as much of their energy usage to electricity. Generally this has much lower emissions than other energy sources. Removing fossil fuels from our energy mix by switching to an EV or heat pump is one of the best ways for everyday NZers to tackle climate change. It should also be cheaper for you.

We’ve got more to come too - when you’ve saved up for an EV… we’ll take the hassle out of finding the cheapest time to charge it and in parallel do our bit for managing the grid by using our “Intelligent Octopus” smart technology to pick the best time to charge based on your preferences and what’s happening on the national grid. We’re working to make things as easy and convenient as possible. Just like our other customers around the globe, in time you’ll be able to roll up to a public EV charger to charge your vehicle and add the cost to your Octopus account with no fuss. 

So if you want a retailer that will give you competitive pricing and solutions for an easy clean energy future give us a whirl and 

Octopus Energy lands in Aotearoa: Who are we & why New Zealand?

Using electricity at off-peak times is better for your wallet and using less power at peak times is better for the planet.

Time-of-use (TOU) electricity rate plans with Octopus Energy are designed to help you save and vary as the cost of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity goes up and down with demand.

Electricity is generally cheaper when demand is low and there’s no need for expensive, carbon intensive types of generation. The cost of transmission and distribution is also lower during these periods because there’s less load on electricity networks.

On TOU plans you pay more for electricity during peak hours, when electricity demand is higher, like in the evening when you get home from work.

To balance these higher electricity prices you pay less during off-peak hours, late at night when people are sleeping and overall demand for electricity is lower, during the afternoons, and all weekend.

TOU rates can help lower your electricity bill, saving you money by adjusting your electricity use like running your dishwasher in the morning instead of after dinner. Or, by charging your electric car overnight.

TOU rates allow you to do some clever things. Here are a few tips and tricks: 

Clothes dryers are one of the most energy-hungry household appliances and typically use about $1 of electricity per load. Washing machines, dishwashers, and hot-water cylinders are just as hungry.

Our Night rate is designed specifically for EV owners to plug in and only pay 50% of the peak rate to charge their cars. 

If you’ve got an electric bike or lawn mower the same applies. Our night rate is good for charging anything with a battery - at half price!

Heaters use the most power when they warm up a house from a cold start. If you set your heaters to do this before the peak time at around 7am, your house will be nice and cosy before you get up, and your heaters won't have to work as hard at the most expensive rate.

Because Octopus Energy offer Off-peak power between 11am and 5pm you can watch as much day-time tele as you like. Or do the laundry.

If you shift any energy-intensive tasks to Saturday and Sunday, you can save money on your monthly bill. 

Batch cook some meals in the oven to store in the freezer, keep the heating on, do some DIY with power tools or trim the hedge.

 rates apply and make the most of your major appliances when energy costs the least.

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Octopus Energy lands in Aotearoa: Who are we & why New Zealand?

Margaret Cooney

Other things we're talking about

The lowdown on our Off-peak and Night rates

And if you're interested in joining us