Established in 2014, Electric Kiwi has a focus on using cloud computing and smart meters to service customers in major urban areas around the country.
[3] Electric Kiwi offers a free off-peak hour of power to its customers between 9 am–5 pm and 9 pm–7 am daily.
The company's founders, which are: Julian Kardos, Phillip Andreson and Huia Burt, saw an opportunity in the electricity retailing market for a provider which leveraged the capabilities of smart meters which it and Consumer advocacy group Consumer NZ believed were being under utilised at that time.
Electric Kiwi claimed the issue was due to inadequate local lines infrastructure and low-quality housing in the areas, while local lines company Aurora Energy claimed that it would be uneconomical to provide extra capacity to deal with short term spikes and that retailers should ensure any promotion does not cause disruptions on their network.
Electric Kiwi CEO Luke Blincoe stated "Choosing a spot-based retailer is similar to not insuring your car.
In February 2019, the Electricity Authority found that the price spike had been a result of outages and a lack of information about gas supply, finding no evidence of anticompetitive behavior by generators.
[14] After heavy rainfall and flooding in Southland in November 2019, Electric Kiwi joined small retailers in lodging a complaint to the Electricity Authority over competitors Meridian Energy and Contact Energy's spilling of water from their hydropower stations.
[16] On 16 May, while New Zealand was in isolation at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Electric Kiwi sponsored the 'Jam on Toast' live music festival, streamed online through Facebook.
[17] In July 2024, Electric Kiwi closed their doors to new customers, blaming soaring wholesale energy prices.