Electricity Authority Welcomes Plan To Empower Consumers And ‘Make NZ More Electric’

The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko (Authority) welcomes the manifesto released by Rewiring Aotearoa today detailing 59 actions to help households, businesses and farms switch to electric alternatives. According to Rewiring Aotearoa, these actions will help consumers access cheaper, cleaner power and the electricity system will be strengthened by more consumer energy resources, such as rooftop solar.

"We are working to deliver an electricity system that empowers consumers, supports electrification, and is reliable, secure and delivered at the lowest cost," says Authority Chief Executive Sarah Gillies.

"We have work underway to boost security of supply, encourage more flexibility in the system, enable consumers to have greater control over their electricity use and costs, and create a more efficient electricity system.

"We agree with Rewiring Aotearoa that New Zealand’s centralised electricity system can be complemented by more localised energy resources. Power generated at a local level can enhance resilience to climate change impacts, improve affordability, progress decarbonisation and empower communities and local economies. Our Decentralisation green paper aims to start a discussion about how we can move towards this future in a way that ensures people and communities benefit."

The Authority also has multiple, inter-related projects underway that could support more solar from as early as next year. For example, it is currently considering rule changes that would ensure fairer prices for consumers with solar when they supply power to the network at peak times.

"The electricity system is in a period of substantial change. The Authority is taking action, alongside others, to enable this change and ensure the system is fit-for-the-future and works for New Zealanders," Gillies said.

Notes:

Other Authority work aligned with Rewiring Aotearoa’s Electrification Manifesto includes:

• proposing rule changes to enable consumers to have contracts with multiple electricity retailers. For example, a household could be with the retailer that offers the best buy-back for solar they supply to the network, and another retailer for their electricity use. Consultation on proposed rule changes is scheduled for late May. Once in place, future rule changes will also enable peer-to-peer energy trading and for consumers to have separate retailers for selected appliances, such as their EV charger.
• enabling easier retail switching by improving comparison and switching services and tools for consumers, including working with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to develop a potential electricity consumer data right.
• making it easier for businesses and infrastructure, such as EV charging stations, to connect to the networks through our proposed rule changes for connection pricing methodologies and application process.
• empowering consumers to better manage their electricity costs, eg, through proposed rule changes that would require large retailers to offer customers a time-of-use pricing plan.
• enabling more flexibility in the system across multiple workstreams, which can help keep costs down by avoiding the need for costly network infrastructure upgrades.

The Electricity Authority is an independent Crown Entity with the main statutory objective to promote competition in, reliable supply by, and the efficient operation of, the electricity industry for the long-term benefit of consumers. The additional objective of the Authority is to protect the interests of domestic consumers and small business consumers in relation to the supply of electricity to those consumers.

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