Households may find a little more money in their pockets thanks to a competitive electricity market.

Households' power prices have come down for the first time in 15 years and there are predictions lower prices could become the new normal.

The latest New Zealand Energy Quarterly, released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), shows the average cost of electricity paid by residential consumers was 1.4 per cent lower in the year to March than in the previous year.

"The decrease in residential electricity costs was driven by increased discounting activity and incentive credits, which rose 10 per cent compared to the previous year," says James Hogan, MBIE's Manager of Energy and Building Trends.

The past year has seen record retailer switching and continued growth in the market share of smaller retailers. Customer incentive and retention credits doubled in the March 2016 year.

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Sue Chetwin, chief executive of Consumer NZ, said there was more competition in the market, a levelling out of demand as people turned to more efficient appliances and new, innovative offers from retailers.

She said softer prices were likely for the short-term future, until something such as electric cars bumped up demand for electricity again.

"There's a bit of supply around. Competition is not going to go away, we will see more retailers entering the market. The lines companies themselves are looking at ways to make their structures more efficient."

Steve O'Connor, of Flick, said new offers such as his company's were shaking up the market.

"We absolutely believe that Flick has disrupted the market and forced a new level of price, technology and service competition, as well as transparency that drives consumer understanding of price. Over the past 12 months our customers have saved $412 on average, and while our customer base is still relatively small, we know there is a ripple effect in the market from their experience."

Electricity Authority chief executive Carl Hansen said power companies were working hard to attract and retain customers.

"That's having an impact on prices consumers actually pay. This is one of the many indicators of strong competition in residential electricity market. Another indicator is that smaller retailers have now grown their market share to 10 per cent which is putting significant pressure on the larger retailers.

"I'd recommend that any consumer who hasn't enjoyed an incentive or discount from their current retailer should be asking them for a better deal or shopping around."

Julian Kardos, of Electric Kiwi, said technological change, such as the adoption of smart meters, was enabling innovation that benefited consumers. Providers could access more information about consumers' habits and offer them a better price.

"With the level of switching occurring, and technology enabling better deals, we have started to see prices drop and people saving some money."

The Quarterly Survey of Domestic Electricity Prices indicator for the June quarter 2016 was also released and reflects changes to lines charges that took effect on April 1.

This shows a 1.5 per cent increase in the national average tariff from the March quarter 2016. It provides an indication of what households will pay for electricity over the next year.

Electricity generated from fossil fuels was down 24 per cent in the March quarter 2016 from the previous March quarter. Coal-fired generation was down 54 per cent and gas-fired generation was down 13 per cent.

"The amount of carbon emissions produced from electricity generation was at its lowest level in 20 years," Hogan said.

With less fossil-fuelled generation, the percentage of electricity generated from renewables was up 5.8 percentage points from the previous March quarter to 82.2 per cent