Business power in Manawatū-Whanganui, NZ: the four lines companies (Powerco, Electra, Scanpower, The Lines Company), 2026 charges and who pays discounts.
Quick answer
Four lines companies share Manawatū-Whanganui. Powerco covers Palmerston North, Manawatū, Whanganui, Rangitīkei and southern Tararua. Electra covers Horowhenua, Scanpower covers northern Tararua, and The Lines Company covers Taumarunui, National Park and Ohakune. Each sets its own prices, and Electra and Scanpower pay consumer discounts. Powerco's rates vary by grid exit point, so nearby towns can pay different lines charges.
Lines network
Powerco · Electra · Scanpower · The Lines Company
Main business centres
Palmerston North · Whanganui · Feilding · Levin · Dannevirke · Taumarunui
Manawatū-Whanganui is shared between four lines companies. Each has its own price schedule, and they are owned in different ways:
| Network | Main areas in the region | Ownership and regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Powerco | Palmerston North, Manawatū, Whanganui, Rangitīkei, southern Tararua (around Pahiatua and Eketahuna) | Price-quality path set by the Commerce Commission |
| Electra | Horowhenua, including Levin, Foxton, Shannon and Tokomaru | Owned by the Electra Trust for its consumers, so exempt from price-quality control |
| Scanpower | Northern Tararua, including Dannevirke and Woodville | Owned by the Scanpower Customer Trust, so exempt from price-quality control |
| The Lines Company | Taumarunui, National Park and Ohakune | Owned by the Waitomo Energy Services Customer Trust, with revenue controlled by the Commerce Commission |
These areas follow Electricity Networks Aotearoa's lines company map, which is approximate. Around Ohakune the two networks share a Transpower grid exit point: the township is on The Lines Company, while some surrounding Powerco connections are priced under Powerco's Ohakune grid exit point. The ICP number on your power bill settles which network you are on. If you run sites in several areas, each bill's lines charges will differ. The Lines Company's network carries on north into the Waikato, and Powerco's western schedule also covers Taranaki; for every other region, see our regional hubs.
Powerco says its western-region lines charges for commercial connections rose 7.6% on average from 1 April 2026, and industrial charges rose 11.8%. Prices also depend on which grid exit point supplies your site. Here are Powerco's rates for a three-phase 64–250 amp business connection:
| Charge (W22 price category) | Zone A: Bunnythorpe, Linton, Brunswick, Whanganui | Zone B: Marton, Mataroa, Ohakune, Mangamaire |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed charge per day | $8.98 | $9.16 |
| Peak, winter (per kWh) | 17.84c | 22.87c |
| Peak, summer (per kWh) | 15.26c | 20.91c |
| Off-peak (per kWh) | 7.15c | 9.09c |
Peak times are 7–11am and 5–9pm on weekdays.
Powerco's 200–299 kVA demand rates are set from each site's anytime maximum demand, its single highest kW in the previous September–August year (our Taranaki hub walks through how). Distribution and transmission combined, they vary even more by location:
| Grid exit point (W29 price category) | Per kW of demand, per day |
|---|---|
| Bunnythorpe and Linton | 29.9c |
| Brunswick and Whanganui | 34.3c |
| Marton | 41.0c |
| Mangamaire | 57.4c |
| Mataroa and Ohakune | 95.0c |
For a site that peaked at 150 kW, that is about $16,400 a year at Bunnythorpe or Linton and $52,000 on the Mataroa or Ohakune grid exit points, before fixed and per-kWh charges. Powerco has also added a capacity charge for connections up to three-phase 63 amps, set at zero for 2026/27. It says this will let it recover costs from those requiring larger connections.
Electra raised its target revenue by 13% for 2026/27, to $70.6 million. It also increased its consumer discount to $9.15 million. Business ICP holders are Electra Trust beneficiaries, and the discount appears as a credit on their retail bill. Electra now sorts commercial and industrial customers into four groups by annual usage, and is starting to move large users to capacity-based charges. Sites with a power factor below 0.95 can be charged extra: 2% of their monthly network charge for every 0.01 below 0.95.
Scanpower covers 2,100 square kilometres of northern Tararua and has over 6,700 customers. It returns its surplus to customers as an annual network discount.
The Lines Company has over 18,000 customers across the King Country, Ruapehu and the central plateau. Its trust discount goes to beneficiaries within the Waitomo trust's boundaries, mainly around Te Kūiti, Ōtorohanga, Piopio, Mangakino and Mōkau, so it is not paid across the whole network.
A lot of new generation wants to connect. Over 1,000 MW of new solar and wind is in Transpower's connection pipeline for the Tararua and Wairarapa region. Transpower says that without upgrades, new generation there will be constrained. It is investigating upgrades to the Bunnythorpe–Woodville and Haywards–Waipawa 110 kV lines.
There are two gas networks. Powerco supplies Manawatū and Horowhenua, and GasNet supplies Whanganui. 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.
Public services and processing make up a large share of the economy. In Stats NZ's figures for the year to March 2024, health care (9.5%), public administration (8.7%) and education (6.8%) were among the region's biggest industries, along with primary manufacturing (7.0%). Sites of 200 kVA and above on Powerco pay demand charges, so for them peak demand matters more than per-kWh rates.
It depends on where you are. Palmerston North, the wider Manawatū, Whanganui, Rangitīkei and southern Tararua (around Pahiatua and Eketahuna) are on Powerco. Levin, Foxton, Shannon and Tokomaru are on Electra. Dannevirke and the northern Tararua are on Scanpower. Taumarunui, National Park and Ohakune are on The Lines Company. Your power bill shows your ICP number, and that identifies your network.
Powerco prices by the grid exit point that feeds your site. Marton, Mataroa, Ohakune and Mangamaire are in its higher-priced Zone B; Bunnythorpe, Linton, Brunswick and Whanganui are in Zone A. The gap is biggest for 200–299 kVA sites: the combined demand charge is 41.0c per kW per day at Marton against 29.9c at Bunnythorpe and Linton, so a Marton site that peaks at 150 kW pays about $6,100 a year more in demand charges than the same site supplied from Bunnythorpe or Linton.
Electra and Scanpower both pay one. Electra's discount is paid through retail bills to qualifying customers as at 31 January 2027, and for most customers it is $0.5068 a day. Scanpower pays an annual network discount to its customers. The Lines Company's discount goes to trust beneficiaries within the Waitomo trust's boundaries, mainly around Te Kūiti, Ōtorohanga, Piopio, Mangakino and Mōkau. If your site is in Ruapehu, ask The Lines Company whether it qualifies.
Yes, piped gas is available. Powerco runs the gas network in Manawatū and Horowhenua, and GasNet runs it in Whanganui. Powerco's gas distribution charges rise by an average of 13.4% from 1 October 2026.
Over 1,000 MW of new solar and wind generation is in Transpower's connection pipeline for the Tararua and Wairarapa region. Transpower says that without upgrades to the regional grid, new generation will be constrained. It is investigating upgrades to the 110 kV lines from Bunnythorpe to Woodville and from Haywards to Waipawa, and possibly new 220 kV connections.
Primary sources first. Every figure on this page comes from one of these, each with the date we last accessed it.
Last updated by the Manage My Bills Energy Team.
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