Three more innovators to gain enhanced support through the Power Innovation Pathway

Three energy innovators will receive enhanced regulatory support through the latest priority round of the Electricity Authority’s Power Innovation Pathway.

The Pathway is our ‘open front door’ for innovators, providing regulatory information and support to bring their ideas to market faster and help accelerate Aotearoa’s energy transition for the long-term benefit of consumers.

While the Pathway is always open for general regulatory guidance, we hold priority rounds to select a tranche of innovators to receive enhanced, tailored support to help bring innovative products, services and business models to market faster.

Our second priority round, which ran in October 2025, attracted 29 high-quality applications from across the electricity sector.

We assessed these applications based on whether they presented genuine innovation, aligned with the Authority’s strategy and priorities, have a regulatory barrier (real or perceived) or are planning a trial that is likely to encounter such barriers, or had the potential to help shape the Authority’s work programme.

From these applications, we have chosen the following three innovators to receive enhanced support in our second tranche through the Pathway:

• OLT – an energy hardship-focused technology business, scoping a digital consumer support pilot in partnership with participating retailer Nau Mai Rā.
• Supa Energy – a community energy-focused retailer working to support the development of intelligent community energy hubs which will provide insights on regulatory challenges surrounding network visibility and connections.
• Blackcurrent – an energy management solutions business, operating Farmlands FLEX, a flexibility platform in a joint venture with Farmlands Cooperative, and scoping an aggregator-led innovation pilot to better enable flexibility.

We are looking forward to supporting these energy innovators and sharing the insights of these projects with the wider electricity sector to reduce regulatory barriers and help the sector build a culture that promotes innovation.

Submissions for general regulatory information and advice via the Power Innovation Pathway remain open. The process is quick and easy - innovators can enter the Pathway here.