New government’s Winter Energy Payment will help households stay warm next winter.

Flick’s mission is to enable kiwi households to prosper. Our tech helps reduce the cost of electricity for our customers (on average $600 over the last two years!), which means they can better afford to heat their homes, keep them dry, cook and use lighting as they need to live comfortably.

For too long the message to people struggling with the cost of energy has been ‘use less’. We’re proud to have pioneered a new approach that means people can afford to use the energy they need to live well.

This is why we support the ‘Winter Energy Payment’ that the new government will introduce next winter. Talking to the NZ Herald back in June, Grant Robertson explained the payment will be $450 a year for a single person on a main benefit or superannuation, and $700 a year for a couple or a person with dependent children on a main benefit.

The payment would be made in monthly installments from May to September and would not be limited to a specific type of expenditure. People could use it to pay their energy bills or to invest in draught-stopping and insulation for example.

Between the savings Flick’s model delivers, and the Winter Energy Payment, this could contribute $1000 per year towards a family’s energy needs. That represents one-third to a half of the average household’s electricity expenditure!

The measures many people take to survive winter are not what we want to normalise in New Zealand. When we see people struggling we all have a responsibility to bring about changes that ensure all New Zealanders can live well - business, government, the not-for-profit sector, and as neighbours.

Flick is proud to be doing our part, and support the new government’s efforts to bring about change too.