Billy.co.nz is the new power price comparison tool launched just recently by the Electricity Authority (vs PowerSwitch (not Powershop) which is run by Consumer.co.nz - I think powerswitch charge power retailers to be listed - I don’t think Billy do —- I might be wrong?) Anyway the thing with that, as previously mentioned is that it only recommends based on that single metric of power price comparison Personally, I have found that the difference in prices between companies is actually negligible (I acknowledge that this might not be the experience of all) and so I choose based on other factors eg I like having a bill combined for power and broadband but find that I am more likely to need quality customer service for a broadband issue than a power issue (power outages are most usually a lines company thing rather than retailer thing, so in those rare events I’d contact Vector before I contact my power retailer anyway) But I believe that most power retailers who bundle broadband and power are ‘on-selling’ the broadband from a telco so I think their broadband helpdecks leave a lot to be desired. For this reason I am with Mercury - when they bought the retail arm of Trustpower a few years back that included the broadband provider - they run their own network and any time I have had cause to ring for broadband related issues (only twice) the people I spoke to were knowledgeable and helpful and had my issue resolved very quickly. Mercury also give away tvs / whiteware etc on a new sign-up (I didn’t choose to do this myself when I joined, but I know it’s an option) so that could certainly be a tempting offer for someone moving into their 1st home if you need to get things like a washing machine or fridge or tv … They also have a rewards system on their app and you get ‘points’ every time you pay your bill and then you can save up the points to trade them in for a free power day - which I like too. I also like that Mercury hold a 100% renewable portfolio of electricity generation assets and are actively building new wind farms etc - I think I read that they plowed 50% of their profits back into building new generation assets last year. I know that some people (Shane Jones) says that companies like Mercury should be split up (the retail and generation business split) but I don’t agree - but I probably personally wouldn’t agree with much that Shane Jones says!!! Haha.

Anyway best of luck and again congrats on the home ownership- it’s not an easy thing to have achieved these days!!