Establishing an Emergency Reserve Scheme

Upcoming Open Closed Decision

View submissions Submissions closed 28 August 2025

Consultation

Thanks to all who provided feedback - submissions are published below. If we decide to proceed, we will consult further on the required changes to the Electricity Industry Participation Code for implementation.

This consultation sought submissions on the rationale and high-level design for an Emergency Reserve Scheme to unlock industrial demand flexibility and boost security of New Zealand’s power supply ahead of next winter.

Under the proposed Emergency Reserve Scheme, organisations willing and able to reduce their power consumption on request - to make it available to the grid - could opt-in to the scheme and be paid to reduce their demand for short periods, where it makes commercial sense to do so.

The proposed Emergency Reserve Scheme would enable Transpower to access additional short-term capacity to prevent household and business disconnections on those rare occasions when market solutions fail to balance supply and demand.

We proposed to allow a wide range of power consumers to participate in the scheme, including large industrials, distributors, and groups of smaller business consumers. Broad participation would help businesses grow their capability and invest in new equipment.

Consultation paper