"Secure, affordable power is key to keeping homes warm, keeping businesses competitive, and supporting the growth that creates jobs and lifts wages," Mr Brown says.

"A re-elected National Government will build on our success this term with Electrify NZ 2.0, a nine-point plan delivering more supply, more competition, and more choice for households and businesses, to help make power more affordable."

Under Electrify NZ 2.0, a re-elected National Government will:

• Unlock new energy development zones by letting developers, major users, and investors build transmission and recover costs from those who use them.
• Make connections faster and cheaper by allowing Kiwis to choose an accredited contractor, not just the one their network hands them.
• Let Kiwis sell power to the best buyer, so households and businesses with solar or a battery can sell to any power company, not just the one they buy from.
• Address the dry year problem by levelling the playing field for backup power by opening the backup market.
• Tackle lines charges by reviewing the rules that set them to make necessary changes, and require residential and small business solar connections to be approved within two working days.
• Make affordability a core objective for the Electricity Authority by writing it into law.
• Cut more red tape holding back renewables so wind, solar, and hydro can be built faster.
• Launch the Home Energy Fund, giving Kiwis low-interest, long-term loans to invest in their own power and cut their own bills, and enable plug-in solar.
• Require AI data centres to bring their own new, firmed power, so new digital investment adds to the grid and creates jobs instead of pushing up prices.

"New Zealand is experiencing its biggest renewables boom in a generation under National, with more new renewable generation built in the past three years than in the previous eight," Mr Brown says.

"That's helped lower the price power companies pay for electricity, with significant reductions in wholesale prices in the past year. That supports businesses, and puts households on a path to more affordable power.

"But the price of electricity itself is only one part of a power bill. Lines charges, red tape, weak competition, and the cost of keeping the lights on in a dry year all add to what Kiwis pay. Our nine-point plan takes on each of them.

"Lines charges accounted for around two-thirds of the rise in the average power bill over the past year. They're set under an outdated law, so we'll review it and make necessary changes ahead of the next price reset. We’ll also let Kiwis choose who does the connection work they're paying for.

"Red tape is holding back new power at every scale, even on people's own land. Environment Canterbury has required a consent for ground-mounted solar panels in case rain washes bird droppings off them. That's the kind of red tape we'll scrap.

"Reliability matters too. We need backup for when the lakes are low, but a few big power companies hold most of it, largely for their own use, and smaller power companies have no easy way to buy the backup they need to get through a dry year.

"We've already moved to give independent retailers fairer access to the contracts they need to compete with the big players. Opening up backup supply is the next step to levelling the playing field.

"New demand needs new supply too, so AI data centres will need to bring their own power rather than push up bills for everyone else.

"This term we've reversed Labour's oil and gas ban, scrapped Lake Onslow and the 100 per cent renewables target that put investors off, and sped up approvals for new power projects. We've also built up strategic fuel reserves at Huntly and started the process to deliver an LNG import facility, so a dry year is managed rather than a crisis. Electrify NZ 2.0 will build on that progress.

"Labour would put all of that progress at risk. Chris Hipkins has promised to bring back the oil and gas exploration ban, which would drive investment and jobs offshore and send power prices soaring.

"Higher power bills would come on top of the $2,263 a year in extra tax that Labour's spending promises would cost the average household.

"This election is going to be incredibly close. The choice is clear, between National with a nine-point energy plan to support more affordable power, with no new taxes. Or a Labour coalition that would push power prices up and leave Kiwis worse off with nine new taxes."

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