FAQs

Empower Energy is a charitable initiative, and digital platform that allows people with surplus solar energy or the desire to help those in need to make a collective, tangible impact on energy hardship. Our platform enables individuals to donate their solar credits or make cash donations, which are pooled into a fund that directly helps struggling households by reducing their power bills. Our mission is to create a fairer energy system by connecting people who can give with those who need support to keep their homes warm and their lights on.

While we are still building out automation on our platform, we have to manually process the sign-ups on the website, and invite you to the platform where you setup your account and donation type – there could be a delay sorry!

We need you to be patient and look out for an email from Empower Energy where you setup your password to the platform, and then you need to setup your donation type.

Your donation could be a percentage of your solar buy-back export credit, or it could be a fixed cash donation each month.  Either way it is good if you fill out all of the details so that if your power company (retailer) is participating with us, the donation could go straight onto your powerbill.

If you have a solar system generating surplus energy, you can sign up with Empower Energy now to donate those excess solar credits.

If your energy retailer is fully embracing our platform, ie a ‘participating retailer’,  your nominated portion of your export credit is passed through to Empower Energy automatically and reflected as a ‘fee’ on your powerbill that offsets your export credit.

For Non-Participating retailers it’s a little more complicated.  Each month, our platform uses EIEP13C data from your energy retailer to track the surplus energy you export. We calculate the monetary value of that energy and collect it from you through our secure payment platform, Stripe. These funds are then directed to a hardship fund, which is distributed through trusted care agencies to households experiencing energy hardship.

Currently, we are allowed to request data up to four times a year for each donor’s account without being charged for your data. However, we’re working closely with energy retailers to increase the frequency to a monthly basis, allowing donations to better align with monthly solar generation and make it easier for donors to contribute regularly.

The upcoming Consumer Data Rights (CDR) reforms aim to increase data requests of this type to become available monthly without charge.

Absolutely! Empower Energy welcomes both solar credits and cash donations. If you don’t have a solar system, you can contribute a set amount of money regularly or as a one-off donation. These donations also go into our hardship fund and directly support households struggling to pay their power bills.

You can change your donation preferences anytime through your Empower Energy account, eg increasing/decreasing your donation amount, or pausing your donation.

All donations collected through Empower Energy are pooled into a central hardship fund managed by Empower Energy Charitable Trust. The funds are then available to partner vetted care agencies, which use them to lower the power bills of households in need.

The only way Empower Energy funds can be used is to pay powerbills.

This targeted approach ensures that your donation has a direct and positive impact on those facing energy hardship. 

We see our platform as one of the many tools that Care Agencies have to help their clients.  Our platform is free for Care Agencies to use, and it’s singular focus keeps the tool sharp and scalable.

No, you don’t need to change your power company to participate. Our platform works with both participating retailers,  and independently of non-participating retailer billing systems, so you can continue with your current provider. 

A key foundation of our charitable platform is that anyone should be able to donate to this cause, regardless of their choice of electricity retailer.  Equally, anyone who needs assistance with their powerbill should be able to receive help, regardless of the power company they are with. 

We often refer to ourselves as ‘retailer agnostic’.

The hope is that all major retailers will become participating retailers, so that the donation process for donors like yourselves is seamless, controlled through your Empower Energy account, and reflected on your powerbill.

Yes, donations to Empower Energy are tax-deductible in New Zealand. At the end of March each year, you will receive a donation receipt, which you can use to claim a tax credit.

In order to be eligible for a tax credit, the total donation for the financial year has to be $5 or more.

There is no minimum* or maximum for cash donations—you can give as much or as little as you like. For solar credits, the donation amount will depend on your monthly surplus energy generation.

Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us make a difference for families struggling to pay their power bills. 

*Stripe won’t allow a payment of less than 50c, so if your solar export somehow is less than that for the month, it will be carried over to the next month. 

Empower Energy provides regular updates to donors, showcasing the positive changes your contributions have made. We also share stories and testimonials from the Care Agencies delivering the powerbill relief, so you can see the real-world impact of your generosity.

Yes, you are in control of your donations. If you wish to pause or stop your contributions—whether they’re solar credits or cash—you can easily do so through your account on our platform.

We take your privacy and security seriously. All payments are processed securely through Stripe, a trusted and globally recognized payment platform. We do not store any sensitive payment details on our systems, ensuring your information is always safe.

Empower Energy is working closely with some retailers now to seamlessly integrate your donation choices from our platform to your retailers (power company’s) billing system.

For the power companies yet to come on board, Empower Energy uses the Electricity Authority’s EIEP13C data-sharing framework to request export data on behalf of our donors. This means we don’t rely on retailers to change their billing systems or integrate with our platform. We’re simply acting as ‘agents’ for our donors to access data that allows us to calculate their donation amounts, ensuring a seamless process.

Yes, we welcome partnerships with businesses and organizations interested in supporting energy hardship relief. Whether it’s through corporate donations, sponsorships, or volunteer involvement, there are various ways for companies to make a positive impact. Please get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss partnership opportunities.

Empower Energy does not provide direct financial support to individuals. Instead, we work with a network of trusted welfare agencies that identify and support households in need.

If you know someone struggling with energy hardship, encourage them to reach out to one of these organizations, https://www.moneytalks.co.nz/