Spot electricity price in Gisborne
Over the past year (Aug 2025–Jul 2026) wholesale power here averaged 6.9 c/kWh. That is unusually cheap: across the 60 months from Aug 2021 to Jul 2026 the average was 12.7 c/kWh, and prices were above 50c for 1.13% of half-hours against just 0.11% in the past year. The morning peak 7am-9am cost about 1.6× the overnight 11pm-7am.
And in a dry year it looks like this. Over the 12 months to Aug 2024 — the worst 12-month stretch in the data — Gisborne averaged 22.2 c/kWh — about 3.2× the past year. The dearest month alone (Aug 2024) averaged 39.6 c, and one half-hour reached 500 c. New Zealand runs on hydro, so a dry winter is not a freak event — it is the risk a spot price passes to you, and the reason this page shows three windows instead of the flattering one.
Right now in Gisborne
Checking…The wholesale energy price for this grid connection, updating every five minutes. Your bill adds network, metering and our fee on top.
How Gisborne compares
−4% vs the national reference
- Gisborne
- 12.7 c
- North Island
- 13.1 c
- National
- 13.2 c
3rd cheapest of the 16 regions we track.
Tuai substation, inland from Gisborne, which feeds the region. Prices to 31 July 2026. Source: EMI FinalEnergyPrices.
When is power cheap in Gisborne?
The morning peak costs about 1.6× the overnight price
Each row is a month, each column a half hour of the day. The left map is the past year alone (Aug 2025 to Jul 2026), the right one averages each calendar month over 60 months (Aug 2021 to Jul 2026) — because the pattern of the day barely changes between one year and 5 even though the level does. Both run in window order, August at the top, so the two read row against row. Green is cheap, grey is ordinary, amber and red are dear.
Past year
Aug 2025–Jul 2026 · averaged 6.9 c
Past 5 years
Aug 2021 to Jul 2026 · averaged 12.7 c
Same place, same hours, two different windows. The pattern of the day hardly changes — cheap overnight, dear at peak, every month. What changed is the level: the past year has run at about 54% of the 5-year average, which is why the left-hand map is mostly green and the right-hand one mostly grey.
| Time of day | Average | vs all-day | Share of day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overnight 11pm-7am | 10.1 c | −21% | 33% |
| Late evening 9pm-11pm | 13.0 c | +2% | 8% |
| Daytime 9am-5pm | 13.3 c | +4% | 33% |
| Evening peak 5pm-9pm | 15.3 c | +20% | 17% |
| Morning peak 7am-9am | 15.8 c | +24% | 8% |
How often is it expensive?
Most half-hours are cheap. A few are not, and that is the trade.
Every half hour of Aug 2021 to Jul 2026 at Gisborne, 87,648 of them, sorted by price.
Median half-hour
11.3 c
Half the time it was below this
Cheapest 10%
0.3 c
One half-hour in ten was below this
Dearest 5%
31.2 c
One half-hour in twenty was above this
Above 50c
1.13%
Share of half-hours over 50 c/kWh
| Wholesale price | Share of the time below | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10 c/kWh | 45.72% | |
| Under 15 c/kWh | 63.41% | |
| Under 20 c/kWh | 80.09% | |
| Under 25 c/kWh | 88.49% | |
| Under 30 c/kWh | 94.14% | |
| Under 50 c/kWh | 98.87% |
Percentiles are interpolated from a price histogram (histogram-interpolated). The share above 50 c/kWh is exact.
The last 5 years
Spot prices move — with the weather, the lakes and the wind
Monthly averages at Gisborne against the national reference. Individual half-hours swing far wider than this — see the spread above, and the full figures below.
Show the monthly figures
| Month | Average | Cheapest | Dearest | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 (partial) | 5.6 c | 0.0 c | 284.9 c | 5.3 c |
| Jun 2026 | 3.7 c | 0.0 c | 38.8 c | 3.8 c |
| May 2026 | 7.2 c | 0.0 c | 49.6 c | 7.8 c |
| Apr 2026 | 9.4 c | 0.0 c | 37.9 c | 10.3 c |
| Mar 2026 | 14.7 c | 0.0 c | 200.0 c | 15.0 c |
| Feb 2026 | 4.6 c | 0.0 c | 28.4 c | 4.4 c |
| Jan 2026 | 0.4 c | 0.0 c | 17.2 c | 0.3 c |
| Dec 2025 | 1.5 c | 0.0 c | 85.4 c | 1.0 c |
| Nov 2025 | 6.4 c | 0.0 c | 29.0 c | 6.1 c |
| Oct 2025 | 3.0 c | 0.0 c | 200.0 c | 3.0 c |
| Sep 2025 | 10.5 c | 0.0 c | 29.0 c | 11.5 c |
| Aug 2025 | 15.4 c | 0.1 c | 30.4 c | 17.8 c |
| Jul 2025 | 9.2 c | 0.0 c | 208.8 c | 10.4 c |
| Jun 2025 | 11.1 c | 0.0 c | 26.5 c | 12.5 c |
| May 2025 | 21.1 c | 0.0 c | 499.9 c | 20.8 c |
| Apr 2025 | 30.3 c | 0.0 c | 46.0 c | 33.1 c |
| Mar 2025 | 27.6 c | 0.0 c | 199.2 c | 29.7 c |
| Feb 2025 | 25.2 c | 0.0 c | 213.3 c | 26.2 c |
| Jan 2025 | 11.1 c | 0.0 c | 31.0 c | 11.6 c |
| Dec 2024 | 3.4 c | 0.0 c | 435.3 c | 2.7 c |
| Nov 2024 | 3.2 c | 0.0 c | 20.7 c | 2.9 c |
| Oct 2024 | 5.5 c | 0.0 c | 21.3 c | 5.5 c |
| Sep 2024 | 7.3 c | 0.0 c | 363.2 c | 7.5 c |
| Aug 2024 | 39.6 c | 0.0 c | 142.8 c | 47.7 c |
| Jul 2024 | 31.7 c | 0.0 c | 199.5 c | 37.5 c |
| Jun 2024 | 25.4 c | 0.0 c | 331.9 c | 26.8 c |
| May 2024 | 36.9 c | 0.0 c | 500.3 c | 30.7 c |
| Apr 2024 | 22.2 c | 0.0 c | 325.6 c | 22.3 c |
| Mar 2024 | 20.4 c | 0.0 c | 52.3 c | 22.4 c |
| Feb 2024 | 15.0 c | 0.0 c | 126.0 c | 14.8 c |
| Jan 2024 | 18.6 c | 0.0 c | 75.8 c | 19.2 c |
| Dec 2023 | 16.7 c | 0.0 c | 54.1 c | 17.6 c |
| Nov 2023 | 14.3 c | 0.0 c | 64.4 c | 13.9 c |
| Oct 2023 | 12.5 c | 0.0 c | 108.7 c | 11.8 c |
| Sep 2023 | 11.9 c | 0.0 c | 35.6 c | 11.8 c |
| Aug 2023 | 13.5 c | 0.0 c | 75.8 c | 14.0 c |
| Jul 2023 | 10.3 c | 0.0 c | 50.6 c | 11.4 c |
| Jun 2023 | 8.0 c | 0.0 c | 387.2 c | 8.2 c |
| May 2023 | 6.6 c | 0.0 c | 242.7 c | 6.2 c |
| Apr 2023 | 9.6 c | 0.0 c | 150.0 c | 8.7 c |
| Mar 2023 | 14.2 c | 0.0 c | 53.5 c | 14.5 c |
| Feb 2023 | 13.7 c | 0.0 c | 34.3 c | 14.9 c |
| Jan 2023 | 10.3 c | 0.0 c | 34.6 c | 11.5 c |
| Dec 2022 | 1.7 c | 0.0 c | 107.8 c | 1.6 c |
| Nov 2022 | 3.9 c | 0.0 c | 50.4 c | 3.6 c |
| Oct 2022 | 6.5 c | 0.0 c | 168.5 c | 7.3 c |
| Sep 2022 | 5.0 c | 0.0 c | 163.1 c | 5.4 c |
| Aug 2022 | 4.2 c | 0.0 c | 46.3 c | 4.4 c |
| Jul 2022 | 9.2 c | 0.0 c | 150.0 c | 10.2 c |
| Jun 2022 | 15.5 c | 0.0 c | 241.8 c | 16.3 c |
| May 2022 | 20.6 c | 0.0 c | 73.8 c | 21.7 c |
| Apr 2022 | 17.9 c | 4.6 c | 49.7 c | 20.4 c |
| Mar 2022 | 18.7 c | 1.2 c | 62.8 c | 20.0 c |
| Feb 2022 | 15.8 c | 0.0 c | 499.5 c | 13.5 c |
| Jan 2022 | 15.3 c | 0.0 c | 47.5 c | 15.6 c |
| Dec 2021 | 5.9 c | 0.0 c | 38.6 c | 5.5 c |
| Nov 2021 | 7.8 c | 0.0 c | 25.9 c | 8.3 c |
| Oct 2021 | 6.9 c | 0.0 c | 48.4 c | 6.3 c |
| Sep 2021 | 9.3 c | 0.0 c | 70.0 c | 8.5 c |
| Aug 2021 | 11.9 c | 0.0 c | 259.8 c | 11.1 c |
When does spot suit you?
Spot is not always the cheapest. It is the one you can leave.
Low prices favour you
When the lakes are full and the wind is blowing, wholesale power is cheap and you pay that price directly. The past year at Gisborne averaged 6.9 c/kWh.
High prices favour generators
A dry winter reverses it. In the twelve months to August 2024 the average here was well over double what it is now — that is the same market working the other way.
So we do not lock you in
No fixed term. If spot stops suiting you, switch to a fixed plan or another retailer — and switch back when it turns again. The point is the choice, not a promise about next winter.
Would it suit you right now?
These are wholesale energy prices — the part that moves. Your bill also carries network, metering, levies and our fee, all of them fixed and all of them itemised. Spot works best if you can shift some usage, or if you have solar or a battery. It works badly if your usage is inflexible and a dear winter month would hurt. We will not tell you it is always cheapest, because it is not — we will show you the price and let you decide when to be on it.