Our strategy and priorities

The Electricity Authority is focused on delivering a future where all New Zealanders have access to affordable, reliable energy to power our homes, lives, businesses and economy.

On this page —

A clear strategy

Chief Executive Sarah Gillies explains how our strategy will help deliver reliable electricity at lowest cost for New Zealand consumers as the energy system becomes more complex.

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Our vision

Our vision is reliable electricity at lowest cost for New Zealand consumers.

Our strategy sets the priorities that guides our work and supports reliable, affordable electricity for New Zealanders.

Our strategic outcomes

All of the Electricity Authority's work is anchored in two core strategic outcomes:

Affordable – Electricity is generated and delivered at lowest cost over time for New Zealand consumers

Reliable – Our electricity system is secure, resilient and meets consumers demand at an efficient level of reliability

These outcomes are delivered by an efficient electricity market for the long-term benefit of consumers.

Our strategic priorities

We have five strategic priorities to strengthen our foundations and address new strategic challenges, these are:

Strengthening the wholesale market, working to make sure pricing is accurate, risk is well managed and competition is effective. That’s what gives investors the confidence to invest in new generation and flexibility, which ultimately helps keep supply secure and prices under pressure. Watch the video
Strengthening system security, so the power system can consistently match supply and demand and operate safely, even as it becomes more complex and more reliant on intermittent generation. Watch the video
Enabling flexibility, supporting things like demand response, storage, and other flexible resources that help balance the system and firm up renewables in a cost-effective way. Watch the video
Supporting network efficiency, encouraging more consistency across distribution businesses and making sure non-network solutions can compete on an equal footing. Reducing overall system costs helps lower the cost of moving electricity. Over time, that should help bring down power bills for consumers. Watch the video
Being a strong, responsive regulator, making sure we’ve got the right tools to deliver on our objectives, protect consumers, enforce the rules effectively and make better use of data and insights to guide our decisions. Watch the video

Taken together, these strategic priorities are about helping to ensure the electricity industry delivers a system that is reliable and operating at the lowest cost for all New Zealanders.