Otago’s electricity company
YOU may have seen their sign while driving past the Edgar Centre on Portsmouth Dr. The sign has been up for a couple of months now.
Payless Energy is a Dunedinowned and operated electricityretailer which was founded by Chessa and Paul Mierzejewski in 2010, having been certified to operate by the Electricity Authority.
‘‘We wanted to give back to Dunedin what it had lost,’’ cofounder and managing director Chessa Mierzejewski says.
Once upon a time, Dunedin had the services of Dunedin Electricity Ltd, before its loss due to the ongoing changes in the electricity industry. The Mierzejewskis are no strangers to entrepreneurship, having been one of the pioneers around solar electricity and photovoltaics, before turning their attention to electricityretailing.
‘‘It just seemed like a natural evolution,’’ Chessa says.
A Deloitte Fast 50 recipient in 2016, having obtained 18th place overall after achieving a 385.7% growth spurt since coming onto the scene, Payless Energy has kept to its pledge of having competitive prices.
‘‘We want to give back to the community,’’ Mandy de Leeuw says. She has recently joined Payless Energy to interface with the community and brand partners.
The company recently held a ‘‘Have a Go with Otago Hockey’’ evening, and has celebrated its birthday at Inflatable World (both of which are brand partners of Payless Energy Limited). These events were open to Payless Energy customers and the general public.
‘‘And what better way to celebrate our birthday than by celebrating our valued customers,’’ Chessa says. Recently she has introduced the initiative that the company would offer a day’s free electricity on a main accountholder’s birthday.
Now a permanent fixture in the electricity market, Payless Energy Limited has expanded as far north as the Waitaki River, and as far south as Bluff.