Power for all of us — the energy plan and Kiwipower

• Zero-interest loans for rooftop solar, batteries and energy efficiency upgrades
• A renters’ right to solar, and legalisation of cheaper plug-in solar systems
• Expand Warmer Kiwi Homes, including replacing gas heating and stoves
• Fund community-owned renewable projects on schools, marae and other local sites
• Put solar on more than half of all public homes, and fund renewable energy on Māori housing
• Establish Kiwipower to build and contract renewable firming capacity

A government-backed scheme would lend for rooftop solar, batteries and efficiency upgrades at zero interest, with the loan attached to the property and repaid over time through a separate levy rather than up front. The document says a fully electric home with solar could save up to $1,000 a year including repayments.

• Central government would hold 20 percent, with councils and the Local Government Funding Agency splitting the rest
• The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority would run it
• Up to 90 percent of rateable properties could access it — if all councils take part
• The document estimates the scheme could be running in as little as six months

The document says renters are four to five times more likely to experience energy hardship but least able to benefit from rooftop solar. It proposes legalising plug-in solar — smaller, cheaper units needing no special installation that can move with a tenant — and a right to solar stopping landlords or body corporates unreasonably blocking safe, certified systems, through changes to tenancy and body corporate law.

The party would regulate to ensure households and businesses with rooftop solar get a fair price for electricity exported to the grid, and reform network pricing so solar users pay only for the infrastructure they actually use rather than a flat charge.

Costed for 50,000 upgrades over four years at an 80 percent subsidy rate, covering replacement of gas heating and stoves, ventilation, and hot water heat pumps.

$200 million for locally led projects — the document names schools, marae, libraries, recreation centres, community energy groups, iwi and Māori organisations and local government — funded by reallocating fossil fuel subsidies. It estimates this could put solar on 1,500 schools and 500 marae and fund 500 further projects, and includes enabling peer-to-peer energy trading.

Rooftop solar on more than half of all public homes within four years, with installation mandated on new or renovated public homes where appropriate. Separately, $80 million for renewable energy on Māori housing — the document notes Māori are two to three times more likely to experience energy hardship.

A publicly owned Crown entity, accountable to a Minister, created to fix what the documents call a firming shortage — the backup capacity that keeps supply reliable when hydro and wind are low. It would be established by the end of 2027 with legislation passed and a board appointed.

• Contract access to existing firming, including hydro and thermal now held by the big power companies
• Invest in new renewable firming and storage — geothermal, biomass, batteries, small pumped hydro, demand response
• Offer fair, transparent contracts to independent retailers, generators and large energy users
• Big power companies would face a regulated access obligation to offer a portion of their firming capacity, at a fair return
• Funded by a four-year $980 million appropriation, which the party attributes to its proposed tax on the super-rich