Election 2026: Act wants to put onus on lines companies to justify consumer charges
New Zealand's Act Party proposes policies for the 2026 election, including preventing the breakup of power firms, regulating lines companies to justify consumer charges, and allowing households to freely sell excess generated power. These measures aim to address high power bills and increase consumer choice in the energy market.
Why it matters
These proposals could significantly reshape New Zealand's energy sector, potentially leading to lower electricity costs for consumers and greater flexibility for households generating their own power, impacting both the economy and environmental policy.
The Act Party is promising to prevent power firms from being broken up, clamp down on lines companies abusing their “market power” to stop customers getting better deals, and allow households to freely sell excess power they generate if elected.
The party said breaking up the gentailers, as proposed by New Zealand First, was “politically opportunistic” and not the antidote to high power bills.
“People are concerned about power prices, they certainly should be. They have gone up a lot in the last few years, particularly lines and distribution costs,” Act’s energy and resources spokesman Simon Court said at a press conference at Parliament.
“People are genuinely concerned about these matters but threatening to intervene in businesses, while it might make for a slogan, a soundbite, a headline, it is not good policy.”
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in