Defining energy hardship

The government is committed to supporting New Zealanders to improve their health and wellbeing. For some New Zealanders, accessing enough energy in their homes while also staying on top of their bills is a challenge. There is a wide range of factors that can prevent energy wellbeing and contribute to households living in energy hardship.

Despite this, there is currently no nationally accepted definition or method of measuring energy hardship in New Zealand.

MBIE has proposed a definition and suite of measures for energy hardship and sought feedback through a public consultation in November and December, 2021. Submissions are now being considered and a summary of submissions will be available on this webpage in the first quarter of 2022. Submission feedback, along with MBIE’s planned further research and analysis, will contribute to the development of MBIE’s recommendations on defining and measuring energy wellbeing and hardship in Aotearoa.

See the consultation page to learn more about the proposed definition and measures that went out for consultation, and the thinking behind their development.

Have your say: Defining Energy Hardship Consultation

This work is based on one of the Electricity Price Review’s recommendations to government to help efforts aimed at alleviating energy hardship. The Energy Hardship webpage has information on other related initiatives that were developed in response to the Review’s recommendations.

Energy hardship

If you have any questions, you can contact us at definingenergyhardship@mbie.govt.nz