Fuel‑saving campaign ends with $21.5m in estimated benefits

Thursday, 9 July 2026

The Government’s energy conservation authority says a $3.8 million campaign to educate Kiwis on fuel use is estimated to have delivered more than $21m in savings.

In response to high fuel prices due to the Iran conflict it was announced in March that the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA) would release an ad campaign to give New Zealanders advice on how to save fuel.

The campaign - Stretch Every Tank - produced ads for radio, TV and social media and featured tips to reduce their petrol use.

EECA confirmed to The Post the campaign had now ended with a total price tag of $3,848,400 which included the cost of development, media spending and an evaluation of the campaign by research company Verian.

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It said the company’s independent evaluation estimated the campaign delivered approximately $21.5m in fuel savings from $3.1m of media spend which roughly equated to $6.92 of savings for every $1 invested.

“Verian attributes behaviour change due to the campaign using differences in likely campaign exposure (rather than self-reported recall) and applies lower-bound estimates of fuel savings for each action.”

The authority said the assumptions were designed to provide “a robust and conservative estimate of campaign impact”.

It expected to publish a report on the findings once it was finalised.

EECA also confirmed to The Post it was its decision to end the campaign on May 26.

In response to the authority’s statement, Energy Minister Simeon Brown said “when businesses and households are being very careful with their spending, government departments and agencies need to be doing the same”.

“I acknowledge the importance of people receiving good advice about how to conserve fuel to lower their bills and expect EECA to deliver its campaigns as effectively as possible.”

Brown said there was always an appropriate balance to be found. “I am sure EECA understands that.'