What Is the Winter Energy Payment?

As the cold weather settles in, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis can expect some extra support for the colder months. So what is the Winter Energy Payment?

What is the Winter Energy Payment?

Part of the Government’s Families Package, the Winter Energy Payment provides extra cash to New Zealand beneficiaries during the cooler months (May 1 to October 1).

Designed to help offset higher power bills during winter, the added cash injection is not tied to any power bills. So, it can be spent freely on whatever you wish.

How Much is the Winter Energy Payment?

You can get:

$20.46 a week if you’re single with no dependent children
$31.82 a week if you have a partner or dependent children

It doesn’t affect any other payments you may receive and, for tax purposes, is not considered income.

Who is eligible?

The Winter Energy Payment is for New Zealand beneficiaries, so only those receiving one or more of the below benefits or support payments are eligible:

New Zealand Superannuation
Veteran’s Pension
Emergency Maintenance Allowance
Jobseeker Support
Jobseeker Support Student Hardship
Sole Parent Support
Supported Living Payment
Youth Payment
Young Parent Payment
Emergency Benefit.

→Related article: Installing Heating and Insulation: What Financial Support is Available?

How do I get the Winter Energy Payment?

If you are eligible, the Winter Energy Payment should be automatically added to your benefit payments. So, you don’t need to do anything to apply. If, for some reason, you feel you are not receiving the Winter Energy Payment when you should be, be sure to contact Work and Income.

Compare power providers with Canstar

While the Winter Energy Payment is a great help, another way to better manage those winter power bills is to get a better deal on your power. The cost of power isn’t set, and you could be paying more than you need to. There are plenty of tips and tricks to save on your electricity plan, as well as ways to lower your usage.

But the best thing you can do is shop around.

A great way to start finding the best power provider is by checking out Canstar’s latest Star Ratings awards, which rate NZ power companies for customer satisfaction and value for money. See the table below for some of the results, or click on the button below for the full results of our survey.

Canstar Blue’s latest review of NZ power companies compares them on customer satisfaction. The table below is an abridged version of our full results, available here.

Show Important Notes^* Hide Important Notes^*

* Overall satisfaction is an individual rating and not a combined total of all ratings. By default, brands with equal overall satisfaction ratings are sorted by the mean overall satisfaction score as rated by consumers. You can click the arrows at the top of any column in the table to sort by the results in that column.
^ By clicking on a brand or 'details' button, you will leave Canstar Blue and be taken to either a product provider website or a Canstar Blue NZ brand page. You agree that Canstar Blue NZ’s terms and conditions apply (without limitation) to your use of this service,to any referral to a product provider from our website, and any transaction that follows. Canstar Blue may earn a fee for referrals from its website tables, and from sponsorship (advertising) of certain products. Payment of sponsorship fees does not influence the star rating that Canstar Blue awards to a sponsored product. Fees payable by product providers for referrals and sponsorship may vary between providers, website position, and revenue model. Sponsorship fees may be higher than referral fees. Sponsored products are clearly disclosed as such on website pages. They may appear in a number of areas of the website such as in comparison tables, on hub pages and in articles. Sponsored products may be displayed in a fixed position in a table, regardless of the product’s rating, price or other attributes. The table position of a sponsored product does not indicate any ranking, rating or endorsement by Canstar Blue. See How we are funded for further details.
Canstar Blue NZ Research finalised in April 2023, published in June 2023.

See Our Ratings Methodology

Compare Power Companies

author andrew broadley

About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar Content Producer, Andrew Broadley. Andrew is an experienced writer with a wide range of industry experience. Starting out, he cut his teeth working as a writer for print and online magazines, and he has worked in both journalism and editorial roles. His content has covered lifestyle and culture, marketing and, more recently, finance for Canstar.

Enjoy reading this article?

You can like us on Facebook and get social, or sign up to receive more news like this straight to your inbox.

By subscribing you agree to the Canstar Privacy Policy