National promises renewable energy fund for households, repaid through rates

Thursday, 25 June 2026

National will create a fund which will offer low interest loans for household energy infrastructure like solar which can be repaid through rates if re-elected.

The party’s energy spokesperson, Simeon Brown, says the policy aims to boost uptake of residential solar and battery storage in New Zealand.

The loans would be paid for by a new entity called the home energy fund, which would have a balance made up of a one-off Crown equity investment of $7 million for a 20% shareholding, money from participating councils and the New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency.

Loans from the fund would be available to ratepayers with at least 20% equity in their property. It would support investment in solar, batteries, insulation and other energy resilience measures.

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Brown said while renewable energy projects were “taking off” across the country, residential energy infrastructure was lagging behind other nations.

“Just 3% of Kiwi households have solar, compared with about 9% in the United States and one in three in Australia.

“In a more volatile world and with more severe weather events, supporting households to have greater control over their power will help more families store affordable energy when prices spike, and keep the lights on during outages.”

The policy had been inspired by the work from lobby groups Local Government New Zealand and Rewiring Aotearoa, National’s climate change spokesperson, Simon Watts, said.

“We know that the biggest barrier to solar, batteries and other home energy upgrades is the significant upfront cost.”

The policy would require an amendment to the Local Government Act.