Electricity Usage/Cost Comparison Tool - Feedback Appreciated

Lnorthparcel on 17/06/2026 - 22:20

Hi everyone,

After a few years of rogue spreadsheets to compare electricity plans with various pricing models, I created a web-based tool to make this process a bit more structured and visual.

The tool aims to provide a more granular and controlled comparison across varying pricing models that is more than just a single estimated bill.

Features:
- Support multi-rate pricing (peak / off-peak etc.)
- Lets you define your own usage pattern per plan
- See how total cost changes with varying usage levels.
- Visual comparison across multiple plans on the same graph.
- Calculate an "effective rate" based on usage profile.

Note that the tool does require you to manually fill in the various plan details.

Hope somebody finds this useful and feedback is appreciated :)

Link to tool

General Discussion

Comments

Best
Search through all the comments in this post.
  • Drcspy on 18/06/2026 - 07:20

    Nice I'm going to have to 'Re-Fix' my plan soonish so thanks I'll see what this shows me.

    • 0
    • northparcel on 18/06/2026 - 09:02

      Thanks for willing to give the tool a go! Hope it helps you find a cheaper plan. I’d be interested to know how you get on :)

      • 0
  • Kate1 on 18/06/2026 - 07:29

    What do you put in for powershop that doesn't have a plan name?

    • 0
    • northparcel on 18/06/2026 - 09:02

      The plan name can be any name - it’s there for you to help distinguish between the plans when you are comparing the results. In your case, “Powershop” or “Powershop - Option 1” will probably do!

      Thanks for taking the time to try out the tool. It would be great to know how you get on!

      • 0
  • CheapAzChips on 18/06/2026 - 08:08

    Nice one! Seems to work quite well. I like the graph comparison at the end.

    I won't be that guy that says "can you please add solar options…" 😉

    • 0
    • northparcel on 18/06/2026 - 09:03

      Yes solar is in the to-do list 🙂 I’ll need to familiarise myself with how solar pricing works as unfortunately I don’t have firsthand experience with it, but I’ll let you know once it’s available.

      Thanks for trying out the tool, appreciate it :)

      • 1
  • Michael D on 18/06/2026 - 09:23

    Thank you, another useful tool in the arsenal in the fight against crippling power prices!

    • 0
    • northparcel on 18/06/2026 - 18:05

      Thank you for giving the tool a go! Glad you find it useful :)

      • 0
  • RAE1 on 18/06/2026 - 14:04

    Awesome! So I understand how to input peak, shoulder, night, and free since that is my current plan. But how do you work out the kWh used for anytime and economy on an alternate plan? Would it be 50/50?

    ETA: I found Billy
    https://billy.govt.nz

    • 0
    • RAE1 on 18/06/2026 - 14:17

      Oh nevermind. Billy just compared plans for me and shows Anytime as Peak and Economy as Shoulder. As you were. 😄

      • 0
      • northparcel on 18/06/2026 - 18:09

        Yes I think some providers use different terminology to describe their Peak, Off-peak etc. In this tool, you can assign any category to any of the 4 options provided. The important part is assigning the correct usage patterns to the correct $ rate :)

        Billy is great. Once you’ve found the cheapest plan recommended by Billy, you can use this tool to tweak the usage pattern to see how much more you can save by shifting your power usage further to off-peak/shoulder/night times.

        Thanks for giving this tool a go!

        • 1
        • RAE1 on 18/06/2026 - 19:09

          Yeah, that is where I got stuck. I wouldn't have a clue how to convert usage patterns to the correct $ rate. Thanks anyways.

          • 0
  • qtboi on 18/06/2026 - 17:18

    this is so neat!

    • 0
    • northparcel on 18/06/2026 - 18:09

      Thanks! Glad you like it :)

      • 1
  • kfr23 on 18/06/2026 - 18:37

    You made it, or did AI?

    • 0
    • northparcel on 18/06/2026 - 19:23

      I do use Claude Code :)

      • 0
Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join