Sarah Gillies: Ngā mihi nui from the Authority

Thank you for working with us this year

As we head into the holiday season, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who engaged with the Authority this year. All New Zealanders deserve access to affordable and reliable electricity. Our role and impact on these outcomes for New Zealanders is stronger in collaboration with you.  Whether you joined one of our 35 workshops or webinars, shared your views on one of our 43 consultations, responded to one of our surveys, met with us, or read one of our 53 Market Brief newsletters or 240+ LinkedIn posts or articles – thank you for challenging our thinking and championing our work. As a regulator, we need to understand what’s happening across the energy sector and how our proposed changes will impact you, your business, your household, your community, and the electricity system. Your input matters. Thank you.

A big year for the Authority

I also want to acknowledge the mahi of our team. It's been a big year and I'm proud of the improvements we've made so the electricity system works better for New Zealanders, including:

• mandating the Consumer Care Obligations
• our decisions on the Energy Competition Task Force initiatives
• launching the thermal fuel dashboard to provide real-time insights for energy security
• reviewing the Northland tower collapse to identify gaps in the system
• stepping up monitoring of retail data and hedge market outcomes
• making changes so it’ll be faster and easier to connect to networks and connections costs will be more efficient, transparent and consistent
• completing a review of winter 2024 to help improve the system.

Looking ahead to 2026

We’re carrying that same momentum into the new year. Through our consumer mobility work programme, we’re making changes that – together – will make it easier for people to understand their power use, find better deals and feel confident they’re not paying more than they need to.

Early next year, we’re launching a new comparison and switching website, helping you find better deals to lower your power bills. It’ll be simple and easy to use, but behind the scenes, it’s powered by two years of data from around 30,000 Kiwi households.

By mid-2026, power bills will look and feel different. Whether they come by post, email or online, bills will be clearer, consistent and designed to help consumers. More retailers will offer time-of-use plans so people can save by shifting some of their power to off peak times.

We know many New Zealanders are worried about the cost of their power bill. Our survey earlier this year, found 38% of households and 35% of small businesses were not confident they could afford their power bills in the following six months.

While we are just one part of the system, we’re doing all we can to address the causes and impacts of high prices. We’re also bringing experts together in our regular wānanga to explore ways to tackle energy hardship and support consumers and communities.

Our Energy Competition Task Force’s initiatives are critical, and we’re expecting a decision in March on non-discrimination obligations. These changes, combined with our work in areas like market making and standardised super-peak hedge contracts, will help create a more level playing field and help ensure competitiveness, accountability and transparency in the market.

As with much of our work, these Task Force initiatives are best understood as a package.  As often as we hear we’re going “too far”, we hear we’re not going “far enough”. As the independent regulator, we need to balance current and future needs through a comprehensive suite of initiatives designed to improve outcomes for New Zealanders.

Working together matters

I also want to thank members of our advisory and technical groups including the Security and Reliability Council and the Electricity Authority Advisory Group. It’s so important we hear directly from industry, consumer and community representatives. Your advice and perspectives are invaluable and we look forward to continuing this mahi together in 2026.

Inside the Authority, we refreshed our strategy. The key change is anchoring our work in the overarching outcomes of ensuring electricity is affordable, and secure and resilient.

These will remain our guiding stars as we undergo some organisational changes next year, including new responsibilities following the Government’s response to the Frontier Report. To support this, we’re working with KordaMentha on our Board-led review so we can deliver on these new responsibilities in the smartest, most effective way.

Finally, I want to thank the members of the Authority’s Board – Dr Cristiano Marantes, Erik Westergaard, Lana Stockman and Paula Rose, and Anna Kominik as Chair – for their expertise, clear vision and making sure delivering for New Zealanders is always our priority.

Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete, merry Christmas

There’s plenty to look forward to in 2026 as the energy sector continues to evolve with new challenges and opportunities. To get the best outcomes for New Zealanders. Mahi tahi (working together) is key.

On that note, I want to wish you all a happy, safe and restful holiday break. Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te tau hou!