Summer lovin’ had me a blast. Summer lovin’ happened so fast. Met a power company crazy for me. Met a customer empowered as can be. Tell me more! Tell me more! Like, what’s up with my winter power bill?
Well, savvy Flickster, if your bill was a mathematical equation, it would look something like this:
Well, duh? It does look straightforward. But, there’s more to the story when it comes to powering our way through winter - especially when it comes to the ‘usage’ part of the equation.
Cometh the cold, cometh the consumption
Usage, or consumption, is dynamic and hugely dependent on that one thing none of us can control: the weather. And because we’re a small, but long country, with lots of stringy wires running up and down the place to light us up, what happens in one place often impacts everywhere else. If it’s frosty in Auckland, our Canterbury Flicksters know about it, and vice versa.
So, when bills go up and down for those customers on our Freestyle plan, a decent proportion is due to higher overall consumption trends, as well as what we’re all doing with our own switches.
Check out Jessica’s usage over the year!
Higher demand, higher prices…?
Higher demand often leads to higher spot prices. But, that isn’t the full picture. The market is a complicated beast, and demand is not the only factor in higher prices. In fact, spot prices can be low in winter with brimming hydro-lakes and lots of gusting southerlies turning those turbines. But, it is true that when we crank up the heat, we can crank up the wholesale price of power too.
The best way to bring those prices down on a spot price plan? By knowing when and how to shift your power load.
That’s why we developed the Flick app. By giving you real-time info about what’s going on out there in electricity land, we help you make smart decisions about using power during lower demand times. Not only is the power cheaper that way, the infrastructure is under less strain and it reduces the chances of the dirty stuff like coal getting fired up to help heat us up. Beaut!
Interested in knowing the latest on market conditions? Get the download on our blog, “What’s up with the market?”
GREAT POWER, GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
We believe that it’s part of our duty of care to you as your power retailer to mitigate the impacts of any higher billing periods. You should be able to put your heater on in winter. That’s why we launched Bill Smoother in April 2018. When you open a Bill Smoother account you get to choose a regular amount to pay to Flick each week, which makes it easier to manage your weekly budget.