A new Consumer NZ survey showing almost 40 percent of households have had to cut back on heating their homes because of the cost of power shows that power prices are too high under National, the Green Party said. The Electricity Authority has suggested changes to the rules about how electricity lines charges are set, which are likely to result in even higher power bills for many households. “When two out of every five households are forced to go cold...

A new report on solar power and electric vehicles is further evidence that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) isn’t working, and that the National Government needs to fix what’s holding New Zealand back from making the most of clean-energy technologies, the Green Party said. The report was produced by independent energy economists at Concept Consulting. “This report shows that National needs to join the 21st century and set up the right market structures to encourage new clean-energy technologies,” said Green...

National has cut home insulation funding to its lowest ever level in Budget 2016, which will leave thousands of people shivering in their houses again this winter, the Green Party said today Budget 2016 allocates just $12 million this year for the Warm Up New Zealand programme this year and $4.5 million for the Healthy Homes programme, compared to $23.9 million for Home Insulation last year. “Over 2,000 families will miss out on getting a warmer, dryer, healthier home under...

New proposals from the Electricity Authority could force some households to pay hundreds of dollars a year more for power to subsidise big business users, making it even harder for families to warm their homes in the winter, the Green Party said today. The Electricity Authority’s (EA) reviews of transmission pricing principles and distributed generation pricing principles were released today. People in 14 regions are likely to get bigger power bills, while bills could be lower for people in 15 regions....

The proposed merger of New Zealand’s largest newspaper publishers is bad news for a diverse media environment and shows the need for independent regulation to oversee media ownership issues, the Green Party said. “A free, diverse, and competitive media is hugely important for democracy,” Green Party broadcasting spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “The proposed merger highlights New Zealand’s international outlier status, lacking rules regulating media ownership and diversity. “The Green Party has long advocated broader criteria for independent media regulation, similar...

New Climate Minister Paula Bennett has notched up her second major fail for the climate in a week, overseeing a decision to keep burning coal at the Huntly power station until 2022, the Green Party said today.

The Green Party says the National Government must commit to stop burning coal at the Huntly power station in 2018 to achieve its own target of 90 percent renewable electricity by 2025. Veteran electricity consultant Toby Stevenson said today it is highly unlikely that New Zealand will reach a level of 90 percent renewable electricity by 2025. The statement comes in the wake of an electricity industry backlash against the decision by Genesis Energy to stop burning coal at Huntly...

The Green Party is calling on electricity lines companies like Unison to join the 21st century and adapt to work with solar energy, instead of raising charges on households with solar panels. Unison controls the electricity lines network in the central North Island and is introducing an extra charge on customers with solar panels of up to 26 percent, effective today for new customers and to be phased in for existing solar customers. “This solar penalty looks like an uncompetitive...

The largest ever oil and gas Block Offer announced today, including 2,600 km2 in the Maui’s dolphin sanctuary, is a disaster for our environment and shows how desperate the National Government is to keep its oil dream alive in the face of growing public concern about climate change, the Green Party said. “This is a disaster for the environment and yet another example of National backing a polluting industry instead of investing in the clean-technology jobs that New Zealanders want,”...

The Green Party can reveal the Government is continuing to pour public money into subsidies for the oil and gas industry and ignore clean energy investment, on the eve of a major government-sponsored oil and gas conference starting in Auckland tomorrow. The Government has just confirmed it spent $47,583 on the 2016 Minerals Exploration Data Pack – a collection of valuable data for overseas fossil fuel companies as a sweetener to make drilling for oil in New Zealand more attractive....