Pricing and lines charges
Your electricity retailer bills you for our lines charges. The electricity retail space is a competitive market and they set your pricing for power.
This includes their costs for generated electricity, distribution and Transpower lines charges, metering, administration and Electricity Authority levies – so it’s important you make sure you’re on the best pricing plan for your property and usage as retailer have different prices.
Got questions about pricing or your lines charges? Visit our FAQ page here.
Check out the pricing animation below
Pricing code & lines charges calculator
The handy wizard below can estimate your lines charges and tell you your pricing code so that you may check which prices apply to you.
What you need:
Have a copy of your power bill handy. This is so you can enter your information following the easy step-by-step process.
You must use the information from your most recent power bill as the calculator adjusts based on the current season (eg, summer, autumn, winter, spring). The bill must also include lines charges, not just power.
The estimated value of lines charges is based on the information you enter, along with TLC’s price list and price category information recorded for your connection.
About the lines calculator
It only gives an estimate. It may not be completely accurate due to the different sources of information, but it will give you a good idea.
This is not an offer, bill or a quote.
The calculator uses the following information to estimate your lines charges:
- information that you enter from your most recent retailer bill
- publicly available information — like TLC’s published pricing schedules, and your connection’s pricing and metering information from the Electricity Authority’s registry. If these change, the estimate will change, too
- prior period information to split your energy consumption that you input into the calculator to determine the estimate.
SOME LEGAL STUFF WE NEED YOU TO KNOW
This calculator and the estimate provided, belong to us. This means you may not copy the calculator or republish the information it gives you.
We’re not responsible if anything is incorrect in the estimate. And you can’t use the information in any legal action.
Estimate your lines charges
Use this handy wizard to estimate your lines charges and find your TLC pricing code:
Please complete the fields above
Please check you have entered your usage and the date range correctly and try again.
What do the pricing codes mean?
Have you used the wizard above and discovered what your pricing code is? You’re probably wondering what all those letters and numbers mean. Here’s a handy guide:
Customer group
R – Residential
G – General
T – Temporary Accommodation
Type of meter
T – New meter. Usually grey in colour.
N – Old mechanical meter. Usually black in colour.
Power usage / capacity supplied
LFC – Use less than 8,000 kWh a year
STD – Use more than 8,000 kWh a year
15 – Small – 0 to 15 kVA
30 – Medium – 16 kVA to 30 kVA
70 – Large – 31 kVA to 70 kVA
150 – Larger – 71 kVA to 150 kVA
Density
H – High density
L – Low density
Type of water heater
U – Electric hot water cylinder – not controlled by TLC or gas
C – Electric hot water cylinder – controlled by TLC
Most customers have an electric hot water cylinder, controlled by TLC
Our pricing
We bill electricity retailers for your lines consumption based on the connection’s TLC price plan. Your retailer then includes our charges in your electricity bill, along with other items including meter reading and power usage.
Our pricing is updated on 1 April each year.
How you’re billed
Our lines charges are incorporated in your electricity retailers bill. Your retailer will be able to confirm how you’re billed, the plan you’re on.
Electricity bills are normally made up of two parts:
- Daily fixed charge which is typically a cents per day charge.
- Variable charge which is a charge for the amount of electricity you use.
However, some retailers use other billing methodologies, so it’s important you check with your retailer.
TLC Discount
The TLC Discount is paid to Waitomo Energy Customer Trust (WESCT) Customers, and is linked to our published pricing.
Beneficiaries of the TLC Discount currently receive two payments each year – a winter discount (in May each year) and a summer discount (in December each year).
Go to our Discount rules here.
Pricing plans
We have different pricing plans covering different situations. Below is a summary of each of them.
Residential Low Fixed Charge
Is only available to customers in their principal place of residence (home) and is usually best for those who use less than 8,000 kWh per annum.
Residential Standard
Is only available to customers in their principal place of residence (home) and is usually best for those who use more than 8,000 kWh per annum.
General
Is where the end use we have recorded is not ‘holiday home’, accommodation’ or ‘dairy cattle milking shed’ and includes pumps, sheds, etc.
Temporary Accommodation
Is where the end use we have recorded is ‘holiday home’ or ‘accommodation’.
Dairy
Is where the end use we have recorded is ‘dairy cattle milking shed’.
Pricing plans from 1 April 2025
| Customer Groups | Description |
|---|---|
| Residential LFC | Connections at a principal place of residence (home) sharing LV assets |
| Residential Standard | Connections at a principal place of residence (home) sharing LV assets |
| General | Connections for which the end use is not a principal place of residence or holiday home/accommodation. The general category includes pumps, sheds, dairy sheds, accommodation above 15 kVA, etc., sharing LV assets |
| Temporary Accommodation | Connections where the end use is a holiday home/accommodation 15 kVA or less sharing LV assets |
Want to compare your retail pricing? Try these websites:
Pricing roadmap
TLC has been working towards distribution prices that send clear signals about the cost of using our network, but which also ensure equity, simplicity and transparency. This roadmap has been prepared to provide the Electricity Authority, consumers and other interested parties with an understanding of our forward pricing strategy.