How time-of-use pricing can work for Kiwi businesses
Running a business can be unpredictable, it's understandable to think that being charged a fixed energy rate would provide more stability. However, there are a lot of businesses that would benefit from time-of-use pricing, where the energy rate you’re charged is different for peak and off-peak periods.
If you’re a business that uses the bulk of your energy during off-peak times, or can shift your operations to off-peak, you should be benefiting from this, and not be charged the same rate as a business that is mostly using power during peak times.
So how does time-of-use (TOU) work?
TOU is a really simple concept, essentially we believe electricity shouldn’t be a fixed, uncontrollable cost for businesses, and instead the rate you’re charged should vary depending on the energy demand on the grid.
That’s why we offer up to 16 hours of off-peak pricing every day (11am-5pm & 9pm-7am weekdays, and all weekend). We also combine TOU with seasonal (Winter: April - September | Summer: October - March) pricing, so you benefit from lower rates when electricity is cheaper, especially over summer.
Using energy smartly
With TOU businesses can work more smartly to use power and save money. Many businesses can unlock savings by shifting energy-hungry activities into off-peak periods. Whether it’s scheduling refrigeration cycles, running machinery or optimising heating and cooling, small changes can make a big difference to your bottom line.
Our TOU plans are built for modern businesses that value flexibility. They work particularly well if you:
Operate across extended hours or weekends
Use automated or programmable equipment
Have variable or seasonal energy demand
No one business is the same. We have farms, hair salons, ice cream shops and more on supply with Octopus, and benefiting from our TOU pricing.
What if you have solar?
If you have invested in solar for your business, you’ll be able to benefit even more from TOU pricing. We offer competitive solar buy-back rates, so you can export excess generation when it’s worth the most, typically during peak demand periods and winter. And with solutions like Power Share, multi-site businesses can go a step further by offsetting usage across locations, making sure no solar goes to waste.
Balancing the grid
From our experience Kiwi’s care about creating a more resilient energy grid. By shifting usage to off-peak periods we’re putting less demand on our energy grid during busy peak times. If we can build time-of-use energy shifting into how we use energy in New Zealand, and how we run our businesses we can limit our need for more expensive, carbon-intensive generation.
Whether this is an active decision you’re making in your business, or a happy coincidence, you’re still playing a part in creating a more balanced energy grid.
Time-of-use pricing puts you back in control. At Octopus, we’re here to help you align your energy use with lower-cost electricity so you can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and run a smarter business.
See how much your business could save with time-of-use pricing. Get a tailored quote today.
