Labour has unveiled its pitch to make power bills cheaper, calling it SolarSaver.
If elected, the party’s promising subsidies of up to $3000 to low- and middle-income households so they can install solar panels.
The party is also promising two Government-backed low-interest loan schemes for home energy upgrades, alongside rulechanges that would let renters install plug-in solar panels.
It also wants to establish a $30 million Community Battery Fund so whole neighbourhoods can share in savings.
The party says SolarSaver will cost $160m over four years, funded by repurposing the Government’s Gas Security Fund, which is “almost entirely unspent”.
The subsidies, loan schemes, and support are to be up and running within 12 months of taking office.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told The Front Page that the eligibility would be based on the Warmer Kiwi Homes scheme.
“The Government’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority [Eeca] already runs the Warmer Kiwi Homes scheme, which is targeting support for home insulation and so on to low- and middle-income families.
“We’ll work through the exact criteria, as we did with Warmer Kiwi Homes with Eeca … but ultimately it will be similar.
“You’d need to be a low-income household. We’ll work out the exact criteria for that, but we’re not saying it’s only for people with children. For example, low-income households without kids will also be able to access it.
“This is certainly available to people who are single and who don’t have children; really, the criteria will be you’ve got to be low income, you’ll have to demonstrate that you couldn’t afford to do this yourself, that you do need that extra support,” he said.
To be eligible for an insulation or a heater grant through the Warmer Kiwi Homes scheme, you have to own and live in a home built before 2008. You would also have a Community Services Card, SuperGold Combo card, or live in an area identified as low- to middle-income.
At the moment, plug-in solar panels are not legal in New Zealand. The option, sometimes known as “balcony solar” is widely used in Britain and Germany.
WorkSafe has banned the product because plugging a solar panel or inverter directly into a standard three-pin plug is considered illegal and a serious safety risk.
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has already asked officials to explore what standards need to be changed to legalise plug-in solar units.
Hipkins said: “I understand [the Government has] suddenly, in the last sort of 12 hours since they found out we were making this announcement, expressed an interest in plug-in solar. The real question is why they haven’t done that in the last two and a half years.
“The technology here has evolved a lot. There are now good, safe options. Other countries around the world are rapidly changing their rules to allow for plug-in solar, and we think we should do the same in New Zealand; otherwise, we’re just going to get left behind here.
“The plug-in solar options that are available are cheap. They can be brought into the country in big quantities reasonably quickly if we allow them. The reason we don’t have them in New Zealand at the moment is that the rules don’t allow them,” Hipkins said.
He recognised that solar wasn’t the silver bullet that would bring down household energy costs.
“I think time-of-use charging, and in particular for those with solar panels and batteries, could be really transformational for them as well.
“At the moment, for many people who have solar, if they’re selling their surplus solar back into the grid, they’re only getting 12 to 17 cents a kilowatt for feeding that back into the grid.
“Whereas if there were peak charging for that, you could be selling it back at 50 cents a kilowatt, and that means it’s going to be much more sensible for you to install a battery, save your solar energy during the day, and sell it back at peak times back into the grid, and you can make a lot more money off doing that.
“So time-of-use pricing is something that I think just needs to happen, and there are ways that the Government can do that, and that’s certainly something we’d be pursuing back in Government as well, ‘cause it’ll just change the dynamics for those people who are putting solar and batteries in,” he said.
National's Simeon Brown says Labour's policy is "essentially National's policy with a bigger price tag".
Meanwhile, National is promising to launch the “home energy fund” to allow more households to install solar power technology and decrease power prices.
Property owners would be able to obtain low-interest loans, secured against their property, to be paid off over time through their rates over 10 years.
If elected, the party would allow people to install rooftop solar without a consent, put ground-mounted solar on farms, add small-scale battery storage, and install small micro-hydro for on-site use.
Simeon Brown has criticised Labour’s policy and has said that the announcement is “essentially National’s policy with a bigger price tag”.
“Worse still, Labour wants to fund it while doubling down on the very policies that crippled New Zealand’s energy security. Their commitment to ban oil and gas means less energy supply, higher electricity prices, and more pressure on households and businesses,” he said.
