Rising costs of living are stretching household budgets. Economists warn Kiwis will need to find an extra $110 per week to keep up with soaring prices over the next 12 months.

These difficulties are nothing to be embarrassed about, whatever the circumstances, we want to keep your power on. We have payment options available, and we can refer you to budget advisors and other services that can help.

You can reach us on 0800 947 867, 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday & 9am to 4pm Friday, or email 

If you haven’t already told us that you need electricity for medical reasons, email us, or give us a call on 0800 947 867. It’s really important we have this information on file for your safety. We need it to ensure we can let your local lines company know when they have planned outages, and let any field technicians know if they need to do work at your property.

Using less electricity and making the most of our Peak, Off Peak and Night tariffs will reduce your power bill. 

Is there another way of contacting you if you need help?

Do you think that in future you may have trouble communicating with us or paying your electricity bills? Give us a way of reaching you through someone else — an alternate contact.

An alternate contact can be a family member, friend, or social agency. They need to have agreed to help you if you’re:

You can give us more than one name to contact. If you would like us to record an alternate contact on your account, get in touch. 

Whatever your circumstances, if you’re worried about paying your power bill, please talk to our team. We want to help.

Trouble paying your power bill

While I am originally from India, I grew up in the Middle East in a small country called Oman.

The friends I have made over this year and the experiences I've gotten working with a great team. I also feel like Octopus has quite a dynamic environment and there is always something new and exciting to look forward to. 

What does sustainable living mean to you?

It is the choices that we make that impact our surroundings. The tiny changes that we can collectively make today can definitely bring a positive dent in our tomorrow. But most importantly, the changes we make has to be something that is achievable and can be easily implemented into our lives.

Do you have a special talent that may surprise your work mates? 

I can speak 4 languages namely Hindi, Malayalam, English and a little bit of Tamil

If money or time wasn’t a barrier what would you do?

This may sound cliché, but I would definitely want to travel the world. I’d start with Milan.

I like to stick to my comfort zone when it comes to shows so I'm currently rewatching The Good Place. The plot twist is actually pretty great!

I can't cook to save my life so my food is usually out of a ready to eat box.

Behind the Octopus - Ahalya Nair

Octopus Energy became the first energy retailer to offer its EV customers the ability to add public charging fees to their main power bill earlier this year. 

Our first Add-to-Bill partnership gave our customers access to OpenLoop’s network of 30 charging stations concentrated primarily between South Auckland and Waikato. 

Now we’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with ChargeNet, Aotearoa’s nationwide provider of public rapid EV charging stations, with about 280 locations between Cape Reinga and Bluff.

Octopus is the only retailer to offer this level of ‘add-to-bill’ convenience for Kiwi EV owners. By having their public charging, across multiple charge point operators, consolidated on their monthly energy bill, Octopus customers can say goodbye to prepaying and multiple lines of charging transactions on their credit card.

If you own an EV and would like to make the most of our Add-to-Bill integration, 

 to link either your OpenLoop or ChargeNet accounts.

Once your accounts are linked, all you need to do is charge at an OpenLoop or ChargeNet site and the costs will appear on your monthly power bill*. Each month we will also send you a summary of any Add-to-Bill charges with details of the time, location and kWh charged. 

* Note: To appear on your Octopus Energy bill, OpenLoop charging sessions must be activated with the OpenLoop charge tag linked to your account. ChargeNet sessions can be activated using the app or the charge tag.

Behind the Octopus - Ahalya Nair

Role: Energy Specialist

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter