Sorry to spoil the fun – but as a business we have to slot in a bit of legal stuff to keep everything running
smoothly and to make sure we are all on the same page with no unpleasant surprises.
Here you’ll find our website terms of use and complaints process. You will also find our
residential gas connection terms and conditions, as well as the terms relating to our hot water cost comparison tool. We care about your privacy, so you can also link through to read our privacy policy.
General terms of use (thegashub.co.nz and hotwater.thegashub.co.nz)
By using The Gas Hub website (owned and operated by Powerco Limited), you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms.
Powerco can choose to refuse any person access to this Website. Powerco can also change this Website (including the
General Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, as well as the Terms relating to our Hot Water Cost Comparison Tool) at any
time without giving notice. So, you might like to check these Terms from time to time in case they change.
These Terms only relate to your use of this Website. There will be other terms that apply to other related services,
for example:
- To your use of any of Powerco’s energy distribution services;
- for installation of appliances at your property; and
- your purchase of gas.
As Powerco only operates in New Zealand:
- All prices, and any other amounts, on this Website are in New Zealand dollars and include any New Zealand goods and services tax;
- this Website is governed by New Zealand law; and
- in the unlikely event of any issue arising, any action in relation to this Website has to be exclusively dealt with in the New Zealand courts.
Powerco owns, or has a licence to use, all intellectual property on this Website. Powerco is happy for you to make reasonable private, or educational, use of any of the information on this Website. However, please don’t use, reproduce, transmit or distribute any information on this Website for advertising, advocacy or for any other purposes without Powerco’s prior written consent.
This Website may contain links to websites operated by other people. Powerco does not monitor any linked websites, Powerco is not responsible for, nor endorsing, their content and Powerco is not liable for any loss or damage of any kind that you may suffer as a result of linking to them.
Please don’t create a link to this Website without Powerco’s prior written consent.
Powerco wants to make sure that this Website is useful. So, if you find any errors in the material or the results
generated by the Hot Water Cost Comparison Tool, please let us know: marketing@thegashub.co.nz.
Website use
When you use our website, we may gather certain information automatically by using cookies. In general, you can visit our site without telling us who you are or divulging any personal information unless you
choose to do so.
Unsubscribe from email updates
Should you at any point wish to unsubscribe from email updates, simply click the ‘unsubscribe’ link in
the email footer and you will be removed from the mail-out list and will no longer receive update information.
Complaints Process
If you have any problems or concerns regarding your natural gas supply, please contact your retailer.
If your concern is regarding the service you have received from Powerco please phone 0800 769 372 or email NOC
customer services (customerservices@powerco.co.nz) and we will
endeavour to fix the problem or reach an acceptable solution. Powerco's internal complaints process is free for
consumers to use.
Please supply the following information to help us respond to your query:
- Name;
- address;
- phone number;
- the name of your gas retailer; and
- ICP number (you can find this on your gas energy bill)
Powerco is a member of Utilities Disputes Ltd.
If you make a formal complaint or dispute, once we receive this we have 20 working days to find out what went wrong
and try to fix the problem. Powerco may notify complainants in writing that it could take up to 40 working days to
resolve a complaint, where a good reason exists.
If after this period we have not reached an acceptable solution, you may decide to take the complaint to Utilities
Disputes Ltd. This is a free service, contactable at:
Utilities Disputes Ltd
Freepost 192682
PO Box 5875
Wellington 6140
Phone: 0800 22 33 40
Fax: 0800 22 33 47
Email: info@utilitiesdisputes.co.nz
Website: www.utilitiesdisputes.co.nz
Residential gas connection terms and conditions
1. Introduction
This Contract, between you (Customer, you and your) and Powerco Limited (Powerco, we, us and our), is for the
connection (Connection) of your property to our natural gas distribution network (Connection). The Contract is made
up of:
- These terms;
- the Powerco Residential Gas Connection Application (Application) that you completed or that was completed on your behalf; and
- the Confirmation of Gas Connection Charges form.
Note: this contract does not relate to the supply of natural gas by energy retailers. Powerco is not an energy retailer.
2. Connection Charges
We have reviewed your Application and the letter accompanying these terms confirms whether or not there will be a
charge for your Connection. The conditions for a free connection are set out in our Gas Distribution Capital Contribution Guide.
If you do not meet the conditions for a free connection, the Confirmation of Gas Connection Charges form advises you
what the charge will be for your Connection and an invoice will be sent on completion of your Connection.
If we do not receive the full amount by the due date, we reserve the right to charge you any costs incurred in
recovering outstanding money owed to us, together with default interest at 8% per annum on all overdue amounts,
calculated daily and compounding monthly.
3. Additional Charges
If circumstances change, or it becomes clear that the conditions for a free connection (referred to above) are not
met, we may charge you additional charges for your Connection. If that occurs we will stop working on your
Connection, we will tell you what additional charges are payable, and we may ask you to pay those charges before
completing your Connection.
4. Gas Connection Confirmation
If we contributed some, or all, of the cost of your Connection, we may seek confirmation that you installed (within
12 months after your Connection) the appliances (or similar) you specified in your Application. We will do that by
checking that a gas certificate was issued in respect of those appliances. (We may ask you to provide us with a copy
of each gas certificate or we may search the public register of gas certificates operated by the Plumbers,
Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board).
If gas certificates do not indicate that you have installed the specified appliances within 12 months after your
Connection, you will need to pay us the full cost of your Connection which is up to $5,000 (plus GST), depending on
the work involved and the region.
5. Trenching
We will lay the pipe from our gas main to your meter location in the most cost efficient route. If our contractors
need to dig a small trench on your property to complete your Connection, we will take all reasonable care to
minimise inconvenience to you and, as far as possible, we will reinstate the trench to the existing
conditions.
If you are providing an open trench, the trench must meet our standards. Email info@thegashub.co.nz or call us at 0508 427
482 to request trench specifications.
6. Gas Meter Location
For residential connections, your gas meter must be on your property boundary, along the front of your house, or no
more than three metres back from the front left or right side of your house. We can vary this to maintain clearances
of one metre from any opening vent, window, door, and any permanently connected electrical appliance, switchboard or
metering board, or any permanently connected gas appliance or flue.
For non-residential connections, your gas meter will be located where we consider appropriate after an assessment
has been carried out.
If possible, we will install your meter in your preferred location.
Email info@thegashub.co.nz or call us at 0508 427 482 to request gas meter location
specifications.
7. Access to your property
If your Connection needs to cross property owned by another person or owned jointly with
another person, we may need to get an easement for the part of the Connection that crosses that property. In this case, there will be some extra documentation to be put in place before we can begin your Connection, and this will be discussed with you in more detail if required.
8. Ownership
We own all the equipment associated with your Connection up to the meter. We may also own the meter (although a
meter service provider may own the meter instead of us). You must take reasonable care to make sure that the
connection pipe and meter are not interfered with or damaged. After giving you reasonable notice, we can enter your
property to check and maintain the connection and the meter.
9. Cancellation
If you cancel your Connection after we have begun work on it, we may charge you the costs that we have incurred as a
cancellation charge. You must pay the cancellation charge regardless of how much the agreed connection and
additional charges were going to be.
10. Privacy
We will hold all information you provide to us, and make it available to you, as required by the Privacy Act
1993.
NATURAL GAS APPLIANCE SAFETY
Although natural gas has an excellent safety record, it must be treated with respect to prevent accidents. You must
ensure that a registered Craftsman Gasfitter installs or converts your appliances, and certifies them as required by
law. You must keep them in a safe condition. Please refer to our website for gas safety information by visiting
www.thegashub.co.nz or call us at 0508 427 482.
Hot water cost comparison tool terms
General Overview
Powerco created this Website to provide information about the benefits of using natural gas. It’s for information purposes only. While Powerco endeavoured to ensure that the information on it, and that is provided through using the cost comparison tools, is accurate, Powerco does not warrant that the information is accurate, complete, or that it can appropriately be used for your intended purpose. Powerco is not responsible for any loss or damage of any kind that you may suffer by accessing this Website or using the information on it, including any loss or damage from your use of the cost comparison tools, or reliance on the results from using the tools. Those results are, of course, estimates.
How does the cost comparison tool work? – What’s happening behind the scenes?
Methodology
Powerco has provided the following cost comparison tool results:
1. Appliance costs.
2. Annual running costs.
3. Cost per shower.
The cost comparison tools access results generated by a modelling tool. Powerco engaged Concept Consulting Group Limited to create that model. (Concept Consulting Group is an independent specialist energy consulting group that provides services in New Zealand, Australia and the wider Asia- Pacific region). There is also occasional reference within the comparison tool to parts of reports prepared by Concept Consulting Group including those on Consumer Energy Options (2012).
The model works by estimating actual hot water usage from user inputs and applying installation and running costs. The model itself is pretty complicated, but Powerco thinks that the estimated results produced by the comparison tools are as accurate and as useful as they reasonably can be.
Where does the data used in the cost comparison tool come from?
- Users provide data specific to their situation and their preferences when they answer a tool’s questions.
- Powerco gets gas prices from publicly available data provided by the three gas retailers (who offer gas only pricing -without requiring users to also purchase electricity from them as well) in each of Powerco’s five main gas supply regions. (Those gas retailers are Contact Energy, Genesis Energy and Nova Energy. Powerco is independent of these, and all other, gas retailers.) We update this pricing annually.
- Powerco gets electricity prices from publicly available data provided by the four main electricity retailers in each of Powerco's five main gas supply regions. We update this pricing at least annually.
- We get appliance pricing from publicly advertised prices. We update this pricing at least annually.
- We get appliance installation pricing from Gasfitters in the Powerco regions. These prices are based on standard/non-complex installations and site conditions. We create an average of these prices for each Powerco region. This pricing is updated annually using the Labour Cost Index
- Hot water derived from Solar is dependent upon the region and people per household that the user selects which stipulates the size of the solar collector on the roof and the amount of solar heating generated from the sun in their region. These are based upon factors modelled by Concept Consulting Group Limited.
What happens to this data?
- With the electricity data, we produce an average retailer pricing per region (within Powerco’s network).
- With the LPG data, we calculate the average price in each of Powerco’s five main gas supply regions.
What is assumed?
- That the data used in the cost comparison tools is correct.
- When a cost comparison involving solar energy is provided, we assumed that there was a full system replacement.
- Gas daily fixed charges may be included, or excluded, from the calculations depending on the user’s preference.
- That bathing water temperature is 40 degrees and the shower flow rate is set at the average New Zealand rate of 8.9 litres per minute.
- For calculations involving efficiency of an appliance, an old appliance is compared to a new appliance when reviewing a household hot water scenario. With scenarios for replacing an appliance or New Builds, the comparison uses two new appliances for the calculation.
- All pricing is based on there being one, externally mounted, gas hot water heating appliance only (which is usually the case with standard house design). A complex house design might mean that there needs to be more than one gas hot water heating appliance.
- That users will get any discount for direct debit/electronic/prompt payment. This is reflected in the prices
shown through the cost comparison tools.
What are the limitations on your use of the results?
- The sharpest pricing for gas is based on the cheapest single base retailer gas pricing offered by Contact Energy, Genesis Energy and Nova Energy. It is determined by taking into account their daily fixed charges and variable pricing for standard and low users and applying them to the selections users make in using the cost comparison tools. A sharpest pricing result will display the gas retailer identified as having the cheapest pricing for the relevant comparison results. The sharpest pricing can vary between Powerco regions and can change with comparisons. (This does not take into account pricing based on dual fuel pricing; that is, where both gas and electricity are purchased from the same retailer because that’s just too complicated.)
- The results are just estimates.
- Any suggestions made in connection with the results generated through a cost comparison tool, are just that – suggestions. We do think that they will useful for you to decide whether, and how, to take your decision making further.\
- Prices change. Powerco can’t keep the cost comparison tools data up to date on a day-to-day basis. Users should confirm actual prices with gas retailers (and not just those gas retailers used for the cost comparison tools) before making any decisions.
- Appliance installation charges can vary quite a lot between installers. If you do decide to go ahead to install an appliance, if possible, you should get quotes from more than one installer.\
- The results only take account of the value of any voucher if:
a. The voucher is valid at that time; and
b. the user has nominated that voucher. - We haven’t taken into account:
a. Any interest charges on any expenditure;
b. any maintenance costs on appliances;
c. the residual, or realisable, value of any appliance being replaced by a new appliance;
d. any disconnection fees or similar fees involved with switching energy sources or appliances (for example, a user’s existing energy provider contract may attempt to limit the user's ability to change);
e. any additional installation charges (say, new pipes);
f. any costs arising from removing and disposing of any replaced appliances; or
g. any implications in changes in use of electricity changing the applicable tariff structure (say, from standard user to lower user). - All prices include GST.
- With LPG pricing, we included bottle delivery and rental charges.
- The hot water appliance is based on present home occupant demand (and not potential level of home occupancy). For example, pricing will be based on the user nominated two people occupants; rather than the fact that they live in a six bedroom house.
- Appliance options have not been provided specifically for energy efficiency (we haven’t cherry picked only those appliances with high energy efficiency ratings).
- The results exclude:
a. Dual fuel discounts (that is, where both gas and electricity are purchased from the same energy retailer) and any form of one off discount, bonus points, fixed term schemes;
b. the cost of your connection to Powerco’s natural gas distribution line (because you’re probably going to get a free connection anyway); and
c. electricity daily fixed charges because everyone will still need to use electricity for some appliances, like fridges, so the comparison reflects the fact that users will not save the full amount of electricity daily fixed charges by switching to natural gas space and water heating.
Vouchers or special offers terms
A voucher may have its own specific terms. Those specific terms take precedence over these general terms.
Generally:
- The voucher will be unique to each user and will be based on information that a user provided in answering cost comparison tool questions.
- The voucher is not transferable to other users and is valid only for the region that the user selected in using the cost comparison tools.
- The voucher cannot be used after its expiry date.
- Taking the voucher into account through the cost comparison tools does not constitute using the voucher.
- The voucher will be valid only for the user’s expected gas usage status (as indicated through their use of the cost comparison tools)