Bill changes for customers in The Lines Company network

The move to a single bill applies to most residential and business electricity customers connected to The Lines Company network, located in the King Country, Ruapehu and Central Plateau regions in the North Island.

Importantly, this change applies to all retailers who have customers in the Lines Company network (i.e., not just Nova electricity customers).

Most customers won’t need to do a thing. You’ll simply receive one bill from 1 October 2021.

However, please note:

• If you, or someone living in your household, is a Medically Dependent Consumer please get in touch with us (if you haven’t already) to ensure we have your status recorded on your account.
• Customers who currently split their energy charges (e.g., one person pays The Lines Company’s bill, and another pays the Nova bill) will need to talk to the other party concerned, about the best way to share your bill going forward. 
• If you have arranged with the Ministry of Social Development to have part of your benefit redirected to The Lines Company, you will need to have this payment either cancelled or moved to your electricity retailer once your final The Lines Company bill has been paid.
• If you have set up automatic payments to pay The Lines Company bill – don’t forget to cancel these with your bank after your final bill to The Lines Company has been paid.

Yes, your pricing will change – as the charges from The Lines Company are being added and incorporated with Nova’s energy and retail charges.

Your bill may be larger for the simple reason it will now include both your lines and energy charges.

Your next bill is likely to be similar to the total of your last lines bill from The Lines Company plus your last Nova bill. However, we are unable to let you know whether you will pay more following the change, as it will depend on how much power you use.

Nova will not be changing our energy pricing at this time.

However, as part of this move to a single electricity bill, the pricing on your Nova bill will change because the charges from The Lines Company are now added to Nova’s energy pricing. 

Under our Fixed Term Plan Special Terms, we have the ability to adjust your pricing: 

“if, for any reason, the information we have relied on to set your pricing is incorrect and/or requires amendment (e.g., if your metering set-up or capacity and/or pricing category is incorrect or changes during the Term).”

In this case both the information we relied upon to set pricing and all price categories in The Lines Company region have changed.

No. At Nova we like to keep our electricity bills straightforward and easy to understand. So, while you may see a change to your Daily and Metering Charges, you will not see the same bill charges as you had from The Lines Company.

Most customers in The Lines Company network have smart electricity meters. Customers who don’t have smart meters, or for those who require meter checks and changes, Nova will be responsible for these services from 1 October 2021.  

You will need to contact The Lines Company. The faults team is available 24/7 on 0800 367 328 or by emailing faults@thelines.co.nz

You will need to contact The Lines Company.

The new connection process remains unchanged – you can contact us or The Lines Company to initiate this process.

Yes. The Waitomo Energy Services Customer Trust Discount will now be paid via a credit to your Nova account, for qualifying customers