Casey says the policy that’s going to make the most difference to bills is the Home Energy Fund, which National announced in June. As Finance Minister Nicola Willis said at an event recently, National basically copied Rewiring’s homework and announced it as policy. 

“This policy, which was based on the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme and will offer long-term, low-interest loans for electric upgrades, set a good baseline and then the other parties one-upped it. That’s what we’re hoping will happen here with National’s energy policy. There is cross party agreement on the need for system reform and all the parties have recognised that homes need more help and the rules of the game need to incorporate new technologies like solar, batteries and EVs. We’re looking forward to seeing the other parties go even further.”

He says one of the most exciting things is that National, like ACT, is proposing people will be able to sell their energy to whichever company pays the most, rather than being stuck with buying and selling to your retailer. 

“This is called Multiple Trading Relationships, and it's a big deal when it comes to energy sovereignty. It means you might be able to sell your solar exports to your neighbour and buy energy from a different retailer. A marae might be able to give away energy to some of its people. Or a farmer could sell energy to Fonterra. The retailers won’t like this, but it’s time to level the playing field.” 

Casey was also interested to see the announcement about opening up the market to address the dry year issue – something that was recommended in Sapere’s ‘From Faultlines to Resilience’ report.

“The can was kicked down the road on the LNG import terminal and no contract will be signed before the election. That’s wise and we hope this policy is a recognition that it’s not needed at all. If someone wants to throw away their own money building an LNG terminal, they can do it - but they won’t because it’s dumb.” 

Casey says we will need a lot more renewables to electrify the economy, so energy development zones and less red tape to speed things up is good to see. And improving the approval process for the small stuff is also important, because, “as we like to say, a lot of a little is a lot”. 

“The focus on lines charges is also welcome given they are expected to make up the bulk of price increases in the coming years. Much more needs to be done in this area to keep costs down, both for residential and industrial users.” 

There are some big bits that are missing from this plan, however, primarily transport and the industrial gas transition. 

“Over half our total energy is imported, around 60% of an average household’s energy bill is on transport, and petrol was the biggest cause of inflation last quarter. We absolutely need to keep a lid on electricity price rises - and ideally bring prices down with abundant supply - but we also need to focus on the real villain and that’s imported fuel. That’s a major omission and it misses the forest for the trees.”

Casey says all the parties now basically agree on rooftop solar. Now it’s time to get them to agree on EVs - for cost-of-living, energy security and emissions. 

“I’ve just come back from Climate Week in New York and New Zealand is seen as a cautionary tale because we tanked our world-leading EV adoption rates by removing policy and not replacing it. It’s time for ‘The Great EV Comeback’ and we think there’s still time to announce some good policies to help drive adoption before the election, including the EV Salary Boost scheme, which is basically a pay rise you can drive.” 

Casey says the shortage of gas for industrial users is a major structural weakness in the New Zealand economy and there’s also nothing in this plan to address that. 

“National has already announced its gas transition loans, but that’s nowhere near enough. We need to shift as many businesses as possible across to electricity or, where required, biomass, but many of them will need help as electrification can be costly and complex. This could be a case of slow deindustrialisation and all the negative impacts associated with that, or it could be a case of nation building, where the Government fully backs electrification and cheap electricity becomes the next operating system of our economy.”

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