Why your power bill is high — and what a business group wants to do about it

A group of business leaders called GrowthNZ says New Zealand's electricity system is broken and needs a full overhaul to bring down household power bills and grow the economy.

GrowthNZ was launched in 2025. Its members include Brendan Vercoe, Bowen Pan, Anna Kominik, Alyssa Laakmann, David Booth, Sam Blackman, Maya Pan, Henry Wang and Malinidi Maclean. The group says the electricity system is poorly designed, stretches household budgets and holds back growth (RNZ).

Co-chair Bowen Pan said power bills are high because the system runs on shortages. When there is not enough electricity to go around, the price is set by the most expensive source available — coal and gas. Pan said New Zealand needs long-term thinking to make the most of its abundant renewable energy, like wind, hydro and solar.

GrowthNZ has put forward eight areas for reform. One proposal is to set up a government-owned company to run the remaining coal and gas plants and sell backup power to everyone on equal terms. Another is to remove barriers for new, independent power generators so there is more competition. GrowthNZ also wants new power projects backed by guarantees that ensure a minimum return, which would make them cheaper to build.

On the delivery side, GrowthNZ proposes splitting Transpower's two jobs. Transpower is the company that owns the national grid — the big power lines that carry electricity across the country — and also acts as the system operator that keeps the grid balanced. GrowthNZ says those roles should be separated so planning is more neutral. The group also wants to merge New Zealand's 29 local lines companies — the businesses that deliver power from the grid to your home — into fewer, larger ones. Other ideas include making it easier for households to get solar panels and batteries, and letting KiwiSaver and other local investment funds put money into energy infrastructure. Breaking up the big power companies that both generate and sell electricity — known as "gentailers" — should stay on the table as a last resort if other reforms do not work.

Co-chair Anna Kominik said the first priority is a long-term electricity plan that does not change every time a new government comes in (RNZ). The call for stability is aimed at a system where energy policy has shifted with changes of government.

The proposal lands in a crowded reform landscape. The Electricity Authority, which regulates the power market, has announced new rules requiring larger electricity retailers to offer lower off-peak power prices from next year (RNZ). But that move dates to mid-2025 and GrowthNZ's package goes much further. The Major Electricity Users Group, chaired by John Harbord, said the government's proposed electricity changes would not affect prices much for at least 10 years (RNZ). The government's response to electricity reform has closely resembled its approach to bringing competition to the grocery sector (RNZ).

Public frustration with the current system is well-documented. Newsroom published an investigative piece on 10 August 2026 examining who shaped major policies and who benefited in New Zealand's electricity industry reforms (Newsroom). Polling by Electric Kiwi and 2Degrees showed about 20 percent of people strongly supported breaking up the big power companies that both generate and sell electricity (RNZ). A business group said in mid-2025 that these companies were squashing competition and leading to soaring power prices (RNZ).

The OECD's Economic Surveys: New Zealand 2026 concluded that planning and governance reforms are essential to accelerate investment and ensure a secure, affordable, and sustainable electricity system (OECD). The government has also issued a Statement of Government Policy to the Electricity Authority (Gazette notice 2026-go3093) referencing a 30 percent increase in total electricity spending in 2026–30 compared with 2021–25, citing a report called "The Future is Electric — A Decarbonisation Roadmap" (New Zealand Gazette).

The broader context here is that GrowthNZ's package is far more ambitious than anything the Electricity Authority or the government has put forward. The Authority's off-peak pricing rules are small steps, and the government's approach has been called soft. GrowthNZ, by contrast, wants to split Transpower's functions, merge 29 lines companies into fewer entities, create a government-owned thermal backup company, and back new generation with financial guarantees. Each of those would need new laws or major regulatory change. The thermal backup company in particular would mean the government stepping directly into a market that has been built around private companies and competition since the reforms of the 1990s.

Whether GrowthNZ can build the cross-party support its own co-chairs say is needed is the central political question. The group's bi-partisan framing and its 5 percent growth target are designed to make the package hard for either side of politics to dismiss. But the same political-cycle volatility Kominik identifies as the problem also means any government committing to a multi-decade electricity plan would need to bring opposition parties along — something no recent government has managed on energy policy.