Electric Kiwi says proposed patch to watered-down power reform still misses the mark

Wednesday, 11 March 2026

Fresh consultations on new rules to improve competition in the retail sector of the electricity market still miss the mark, Electric Kiwi says.

The Electricity Competition Task Force ‒ run jointly by the Commerce Commission and the Electricity Authority (EA) ‒ proposed last year that the major gentailers would need to abide by new “anti-discrimination” rules to ensure they did not advantage their own retail arms when selling power they generated.

Former EA chairperson Anna Kominik described the reform as “the biggest change in the market in several decades”, when it was first announced.

But Electric Kiwi and three other electricity retailers warned in December that the EA risked crippling the reform by suggesting it would only apply to the small amount of power that Meridian, Contact, Mercury and Genesis had for sale that they did not expect to use to serve their own customers.

Read more:

• Competition task force recommends ‘anti-discrimination’ rule for power giants

• Why competition task force move is only a partial fix for the electricity sector

• Electricity Authority killing off promised ‘level playing field’, say power retailers

The EA announced fresh consultations two weeks ago on an additional safeguard that would require gentailers to submit reports every six months to demonstrate they were not offering preferential prices to their own retail businesses “without an objectively justifiable reason”.

The watchdog’s general manager of wholesale and supply, Hayden Glass, said the extra rule was designed to ensure retailers weren’t “squeezed by high wholesale prices and can profitably operate if they are at least as efficient as gentailers’ retail arms”.

But Electric Kiwi chief executive Huia Burt said the non-discrimination rule should apply to all the electricity the gentailers produced.

The company’s preliminary view was that the new proposal still left far too many loopholes, she said.

“Simply providing a compelling narrative for ‘discrimination’ appears to be enough to comply with the substance of the code, and that’s very concerning.”

Energy Minister Simon Watts said feedback from the industry on whether initiatives “went far enough or go too far” was part of any consultation process.

“We want to make sure that the initiatives and the changes that flow through do lead to more affordable power prices. So, I’m sure the regulator will be taking on board that feedback,” he said.

The changes will come into effect on July 1.