The petition closed on 1 December 2021 – many thanks to the 11,385 people who signed.
Progress through Parliament was slow and we made an oral submission to the Select Committee in October 2022. We’re continuing to advocate for change with Government agencies and the Commerce Commission.
Kiwis are being stung by high power bills, and NZ's unfair electricity market is partly to blame. It’s putting financial pressure on families and contributing to energy hardship. The rising costs are also putting NZ's climate goals for a greener, more sustainable future at risk.
110,000 Kiwi households can’t afford to adequately heat their homes.
MBIE’s report on energy hardship measures (for the year ended June 2022) showed that 110,000 households couldn’t afford to keep their homes warm. Kiwis deserve better, and that's why we're demanding reform to fix the broken market. Join the Revolt to bring high power prices down: together we can fight for power affordability for all Kiwis.
The market is broken.
The wholesale electricity market in NZ isn’t a level playing field. The market allows gentailers (companies that both generate and sell power) to use their market power to sell electricity to independent retailers at a higher price than they do to their own retail arms. Ultimately, it’s driving out competition and denying Kiwis access to fair pricing and choice.
The fix is simple.
We're calling for the Government to separate the Gentailers so that these companies either generate electricity or retail electricity, but not both, to help bring power prices down. At a minimum, we’re requesting that they bring equality to the marketplace by making all retailers buy power off the same market.
Do the right thing by Kiwis.
Gentailers buy their own power for less but still charge similar, or sometimes higher, retail prices to their customers instead of passing on the savings. That just isn't right.
New Zealanders can’t afford to keep this up.
The high price of electricity is costing Aotearoa:
100,000 households put up with feeling cold a lot to keep costs down, according to MBIE’s report on energy hardship measures (year ended June 2022).
Over the past few years, a number of businesses have closed their doors due to high electricity prices.
The high costs of power also make it difficult for businesses currently reliant on fossil fuels to switch to greener electricity options.