Energy

The New Zealand energy situation is not a healthy one. Maui gas has been wasted, very little has been done to encourage conservation, and our environment is still at risk from new coal generation and mega-transmission lines. Nuclear power is also not an option for this country.

Jeanette Fitzsimons has been at the forefront of campaigning for a sustainable energy future for this country for 30 years, living her message with an off-grid home. In her first term Jeanette introduced the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill to Parliament which was finally enacted in May 2000 – the first Green Party Bill to become law. The Greens also negotiated with the Government to add $3 million to the funding of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) so they could do more of the tasks that the Bill had spelt out.

In October 2005, as part of the co-operation agreement with the Labour-led Government, Jeanette was appointed the Government spokesperson on Energy Efficiency and is working with ECCA on an Energy Efficiency and Solar Initiative that will

  • significantly reduce the projected $500 million Kyoto deficit by 2008.
  • meet the government's NEECS target of 2% pa improved energy efficiency
  • improve living conditions with warmer, drier homes and solar hot water
  • slow the increase in the cost of oil imports.

Read our energy policy

Subject: Energy

What's New

Householders deserve a choice with smart meters

Meters will be smarter and householders will be given more control over their power bills, thanks to the Smart Meters (Consumer Choice) Bill being drawn from the ballot, the Green Party said today.

23 Feb 2010

Industry leaders warn of imminent oil crunch

The Green Party is calling on our Government to prepare for a significant oil crunch, in light of an industry led report warning the UK Government about the threat of rising oil prices. The UK’s Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security has released its second in-depth analysis of the risks to the economy from the end of cheap oil.

16 Feb 2010

Electricity Industry Bill — First Reading

The one proposition that the Greens can agree with in the Electricity Industry Bill is that there is certainly work to be done, and considerable scope for improvement, in the interests of assuring a reliable and affordable supply of electricity to New Zealand homes and businesses.

15 Dec 2009

Smart Meters (Consumer Choice) Bill

This Bill gives effect to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in her report "Smart electricity meters: How households and the environment can benefit" (June 2009). It does this by ensuring all meters have functionality that enables them to automatically control loads and to talk to smart appliances; and by requiring installers to give consumers the choice to have real-time information about their electricity use and variable tariffs so they can make use of this function if they wish.

Mining: Fighting Talk

Mining is back in the headlines after the Greens released documents this week showing that the Government is considering mining in Coromandel Peninsula, Kahurangi National Park, Paparoa National Park, and Fiordland National Park. This week, we take a closer look at the rhetoric surrounding this controversial proposal, and finish by asking Green Party Co-leader and Mining Spokesperson, Metiria Turei, what she makes of it all.

08 Oct 2009

ETS to increase New Zealand’s emissions 5%

Under the new Emissions Trading Scheme, (ETS), the Government will pay just one company, Methanex, over a billion dollars to increase New Zealand's total emissions by 5% over the next ten years, the Green Party said today. This makes a mockery of the Government’s emissions reduction target of ten percent by 2020. It does exactly the opposite.

24 Sep 2009

Transport Minister shuts the door on reducing emissions

The Government has rejected one of the simplest and most effective ways of reducing New Zealand's carbon emissions. Stephen Joyce's announcement that work will stop on fuel economy standards for vehicles coming into New Zealand condemns motorists to high fuel costs and rising emissions, Jeanette said.

30 Aug 2009

Electricity Review backs Green call for smarter meters

The Electricity Market Review released today confirms the urgency of putting the smarts back into the new meters being installed by electricity generators. There are a number of recommendations in the report that require serious scrutiny, but the one area of cross party consensus is the need for smarter meters. Why wait?

12 Aug 2009
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