More Government support for investment in oil, gas and LNG infrastructure is another step away from the sustainable and affordable energy network that this country needs.
“Today’s underwhelming announcement does nothing to guarantee lower energy bills for struggling households and businesses,” says the Green Party Co-Leader, Marama Davidson.
“While the devil will be in the detail, these purported ‘reforms’ appear to only entrench the dominance of the gentailers and deepen our reliance on fossil fuels – a risky, expensive and increasingly uncertain source of energy.
“We can build a more sustainable and affordable electricity network that puts people and planet before the profits of our gentailers. But what’s required is significant structural reform and government-led intervention, not more market-led solutions.
“Decades of market-led reforms have delivered what we have today: high power prices, problems with our energy security and no guarantee of lower emissions.
“Moves to improve transparency and information requirements in the market are useful, but will not achieve the significant intervention needed. Nothing announced today is likely to stop the gentailers rorting households and businesses who will continue to be prey to predatory pricing.
“We should re-invest profits from gentailers into enhancing our energy efficiency and bolstering our supply of renewable energy. Delaying this is partly why we’re in this situation now – but it’s not too late to turn this ship around.
“We have a Member’s Bill ready to go which would break up the gentailers as a starting point, and create the conditions for cheaper electricity, alongside development of a more innovative, cleaner, smarter grid.
“Our Green Budget showed with significant investment in publicly owned energy, we can have more affordable bills, powered by clean energy, and that promotes our energy security,” says Marama Davidson.