High power prices led to the loss of hundreds of manufacturing jobs in recent months. Photo / Alex Burton
High power prices led to the loss of hundreds of manufacturing jobs in recent months. Photo / Alex Burton
About two-thirds of respondents in a new poll believe the Government is not doing enough to lower electricity prices and a similar proportion think power companies are making unreasonably high profits.
The poll, conducted by Curia and commissioned by power company Octopus Energy, asked about 1100 respondents how concerned they were with energy prices and how the Government had responded.
It found 63% thought the Government had not done enough to drive down prices and almost half (47%) were more concerned about power costs this year than last year.
It seemed the public largely agreed with recent accusations of energy companies “profiteering” as more than two-thirds (68%) believed companies were making “unreasonably high” profits. Only 15% thought the profits were reasonable.
Almost half of respondents (45%) believed sector competition would be improved if companies like Meridan, Contact, Genesis and Mercury were forced by the Government to separate their electricity generation and retail arms. Only 17% opposed the suggestion, while 38% were unsure.
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has previously ruled out any Government intervention in the wholesale electricity market. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The poll was conducted between September 23 and October 3. It had a 3% margin of error.
“People get that competition isn’t working well, and they’re seeing that structural change like we had in telcos as the solution, they want something done about it,” Octopus Energy chief operating officer Margaret Cooney said.
“Winter may be over but people are still concerned about their power bills and the impact on the wider economy.”
Energy Minister Simeon Brown did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment before deadline.
Last weekend, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones aired plans to persuade the Government to invest in geothermal energy by funding a new Crown entity to facilitate well-drilling with the hope of improving energy supply security.
Jones said he believed it was the Crown’s responsibility to safeguard the security of energy provision.
“I don’t think that it’s reasonable to expect the [energy companies] to spend $60 million, $80m, $100m, whatever it might be, for the initial well-drilling. They don’t seem to be motivated to do that.”
Resources Minister Shane Jones wants to tap into geothermal energy. Photo / Mike Scott
Jones, who wasn’t surprised by the Curia poll results, told the Herald this week that he hoped to bring a plan to the Cabinet before the end of the year arguing for the “Crown to underwrite the costs of sinking deep wells into the earth to deliver with confidence the supply capacity of deep-seated geothermal energy to boost our capacity”.
While he claimed this was a short-term intervention, he accepted it would be “several years” before geothermal energy would affect power prices.
Regardless, he regarded geothermal resources as a worthy investment, citing advice praising the calibre of New Zealand’s geothermal engineers and scientists as “top-shelf all around the world”.
“I think that [GNS Science is] probably confident that, if they can secure the necessary pūtea [money] from the Cabinet, they’ll deliver for the nation in a way that the gentailers [energy companies that have generation and retail arms] are unable to deliver.”
Jones said he had organised a delegation of scientists and officials to travel to Japan to learn more about geothermal energy, while he also sought to convene a Māori energy summit early next year, given some potential drilling sites were on Māori land.
He said he and Brown had a shared interest in expanding energy supply. He had also discussed the matter with Judith Collins, the minister responsible for science.
However, the NZ First MP accepted the party had not been able to convince its coalition partners of its more “interventionist” energy policies during post-election negotiations.
“There’s been a historic level of nervousness that, if we move too robustly and interfere in the affairs of the market players, then they’ll freeze their investment.
“Not surprisingly, New Zealand First has always had a far more interventionist view than that, but hey, when you get 6.5% of the vote, then beggars can’t be choosers.”
Jones hinted at last weekend’s NZ First annual conference that the party would campaign in 2026 on consolidating the energy companies.
“I respect the fact that we couldn’t get everything we wanted when we formed the Government with the National Party and the Act Party, but one model I’m going to pursue through the party is putting Humpty Dumpty back together.
“[The company chief executives] don’t really take me seriously [but] we’ll campaign on it and if we’ve got a mandate, be very aware.”
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
