Business power in Hawke's Bay: what sets your price

Which lines company runs the network in Hawke's Bay?

Your lines company is set by your address, and the ICP number on your bill shows which one you're on. There are three in Hawke's Bay:

Unison also runs the networks in Rotorua and Taupō, but Hawke's Bay has its own price schedule. Unison manages Centralines under a services agreement, but Centralines keeps its own owners and prices. Unison's Rotorua and Taupō networks are covered on our Bay of Plenty and Waikato hubs; for the rest of the country, see our regional hubs.

How does Unison charge a business connection?

Unison sets lines charges for each connection based on its size and meter. All prices below exclude GST and include transmission.

• Small general connections pay $2.10 a day. On time-of-use metering, the rates are 14.1c per kWh at peak times, 9.2c at shoulder times and 2.4c off-peak. Peak times are 7–11am and 5–9pm on weekdays.
• Commercial connections from 28 kVA pay a daily fixed charge based on their capacity band. Every band's charge rose on 1 April 2026:

• Demand-billed sites pay demand charges on their highest half-hour. Peak demand, measured 7–11am and 5–9pm on working days, costs $6.75 per kW per month in winter (1 May to 30 September) and $3.50 in summer. They also pay a monthly demand charge of $3.75 per kW (up from $2.50) on their highest half-hour in the month, at any time of day. So a site whose 200 kW monthly high falls in a winter peak window pays $2,100 that month in demand charges alone.

Two other 2026 changes help businesses: the power factor (kVAR) charge is now zero, and there is a new 4c per kWh credit for power a site exports to the network at peak times.

What else is changing for Hawke's Bay businesses?

Unison says its 2026 prices follow the Commerce Commission's new allowances. It has also joined Localflex, New Zealand's first local flexibility market, launched on 11 August 2026, which pays businesses with batteries, solar, EV chargers or adjustable load to ease pressure on the local network.

Gas costs are rising too. Hawke's Bay is on Powerco's gas network, and Powerco's gas distribution charges rise by an average of 13.4% from 1 October 2026. See our guide to gas supply and business gas and LPG.

What makes Hawke's Bay's supply different?

The grid is still being rebuilt after Cyclone Gabrielle. In February 2023, floodwater reached Transpower's Redclyffe and Whirinaki substations. Transpower calls it the greatest loss of power supply the region has ever had. In September 2025, a new transformer at Redclyffe lifted the region's import capacity from 130 MW to 250 MW. A $47 million rebuild of the 220 kV switchyard runs from October 2026 to December 2027 and is designed to withstand a 1-in-450-year flood.

More power is being generated locally. The Harapaki wind farm on the Maungaharuru Range, north of Te Pohue, can produce up to 176 MW. In Central Hawke's Bay, ground was broken in July 2026 on a solar farm at Ongaonga. It will have around 49,000 panels, is expected to be operational by autumn 2027, and should produce about 50 GWh a year straight into the Centralines network. In August 2026, Centralines said it had livened its upgraded Ruataniwha substation, whose new 33 kV switchroom will be the solar farm's connection point.

The economy leans more on primary industry than the country as a whole. In Stats NZ's figures for the year to March 2024, agriculture and primary manufacturing each made up about 7% of Hawke's Bay's industry output. Nationally, agriculture made up 3% and primary manufacturing 5%.

What should a Hawke's Bay business check?

• Your capacity band. It sets your daily charge, and every band's charge went up in 2026. If your business has shrunk or changed, check that your connection's capacity still matches the power you actually use.
• Your winter weekday peaks. On demand billing, moving heavy loads out of the 7–11am and 5–9pm windows between May and September can cut your charges.
• Who the power account is in, and whether it's registered. The Hawke's Bay Power Consumers' Trust's $275 dividend for 2026 goes to the name on the account, but only once that account holder registers with the trust (by 5pm on 17 November 2026 to be in the first payment run). Leases should make clear whether that is the landlord or the tenant.
• Your energy rate on each site. Your address fixes your lines company, but not your retailer. If you have sites on both Unison and Centralines, the lines charges will differ, so compare the energy rate on each. You can see what we do for business electricity, or talk to us about your Hawke's Bay sites.