Wholesale electricity prices moved sharply in 2026 — the average spot price reached $105 per MWh in May, up around $49, on higher demand, lower wind and a geothermal outage. Between 2019 and early 2026 the average rose to around $160 per MWh.
Small businesses do not buy at spot. They feel it at renewal, which makes it a planning problem rather than a daily one.
Read your bill properly
Most business owners have never broken down an electricity bill. The components:
- Energy — what you consumed, at your contract rate.
- Network or lines charges — for delivering it, frequently a large share and often based partly on peak demand rather than total consumption.
- Fixed daily charge, which you pay regardless of use.
- Levies and metering.
The distinction between energy and demand charges matters, because reducing peak demand cuts cost even if total consumption is unchanged. Businesses that focus only on using less energy miss half the lever.
Shop the contract
Business electricity contracts vary more than most owners assume, and a rate agreed years ago is unlikely to be competitive.
When comparing:
- Compare the all-in cost on your actual consumption profile, not the headline rate.
- Check the term and what happens at expiry — rolling onto a default rate is expensive.
- Understand price review provisions, and whether the retailer can pass through network increases.
- Ask about flexible arrangements if any of your load can move.
Getting a competing quote costs an hour and is the fastest available saving.
Peak demand management
For businesses with a demand-based charge, the highest half hour in a period can set a significant cost. Practical measures requiring no capital:
- Stagger equipment starts rather than everything coming on at opening.
- Identify coincidence — where several large loads overlap unnecessarily.
- Shift what can shift — batch processes, pre-cooling, water heating, EV charging.
- Sub-meter if you cannot tell what drives the peak.
Efficiency reduces exposure permanently
The cheapest unit is the one you do not use, and efficiency is the only lever that reduces both consumption and peak.
Where the returns generally sit for small commercial premises:
- Controls and schedules. Plant running outside occupied hours is the most common finding in any audit. Heating, cooling and ventilation conditioning an empty building at night and at weekends is pure waste, and it usually persists because nobody reviewed the timer after a change.
- Setpoints. Heating and cooling fighting each other, or tighter setpoints than necessary.
- Maintenance. Dirty filters, failed sensors and refrigerant loss degrade efficiency invisibly.
- Lighting — LED replacement and occupancy sensing, which pay back quickly.
- Refrigeration door seals and defrost settings, for anything in food.
Tuning an existing building typically produces meaningful savings for modest cost, and should come before considering plant replacement.
The landlord problem
If you lease, the split incentive is real: the owner pays for capital improvements and you receive the saving through lower outgoings.
Options: raise it at renewal when you have leverage, propose sharing the cost, or focus on the measures within your control — controls, schedules, lighting and equipment you own.
Check your lease on who is responsible for what, and whether energy is separately metered or apportioned. An apportioned charge gives you very little control.
Solar, honestly assessed
Rooftop solar suits businesses whose consumption profile matches generation — daytime operation, weekday load. It suits businesses with evening or overnight load poorly unless storage is added, which changes the economics substantially.
Model it on your actual half-hourly consumption rather than annual totals, and include what you would be paid for export, which is generally well below what you pay for import.
Where to look
The Electricity Authority publishes wholesale market data at emi.ea.govt.nz under a default open licence, and runs consumer-facing comparison information. EECA publishes energy efficiency guidance for business, and your lines company publishes network pricing structures.
Figures: Electricity Authority market reporting, May 2026 spot price and longer-run average to early 2026. General information only, not financial advice.
