Support for Energy Education in Communities Programme

The SEEC Programme was established following recommendations to government from the 2019 Electricity Price Review. It complements other initiatives across government, the community and private sector that focus on making homes warmer and more energy efficient.

The SEEC Programme includes funding to build and expand the network of services to support people experiencing energy hardship achieve warmer, more energy-efficient homes and lower their energy bills.

Funding is available to eligible community-level groups, organisations or businesses, and is primarily allocated through a regular open process. The funding contributes to the provision of personalised, specialist advice and education to households in energy hardship, and purchasing low-cost energy-saving equipment and devices.

The SEEC Programme consists of the SEEC Fund and the associated SEEC Equipment and Devices Fund.

SEEC Fund

The SEEC Fund is the Programme’s primary funding pool. Eligible groups, businesses and organisations can apply for funding from the SEEC Fund to expand the capacity of existing energy hardship initiatives, pilot a new scheme, or deliver related training. It is not intended to fund existing initiatives or cover start-up costs for the creation of new organisations.

Examples of initiatives that will be considered for the SEEC Fund are:

• preparing and delivering education material
• hui to provide advice and resources to groups
• training community-level advisors
• providing personalised advice in-home, over the phone or at events.

SEEC Equipment and Devices Fund

The SEEC Equipment and Devices Fund is the secondary, subsequent funding pool that applicants for the SEEC Fund can also apply for. This fund is to help with the cost of low-cost items, such as LED lights, timing switches, and sensors that support energy efficiency advice provided to households experiencing energy hardship.

Funding round 2023/2024

The 2023/2024 funding round closed on 30 October 2023. Applications are now being considered.

Up to $2.95 million is available for this funding round, and eligible community-level groups, organisations and businesses could apply for up to $200,000 per project.

This round we’re looking for projects that can be substantially delivered within 12 months.

MBIE statistics released in June 2023 found Māori and Pacific peoples are more likely to experience energy hardship. So this funding round looks to support more projects that help Māori and Pacific households.

Limited funding is also available to pilot longer-term projects that may run over 2 to 3 years. This funding will be available to previous SEEC providers to provide the resources and funding security required to reach more households and maximise impact. This limited pilot will inform future design changes of the Programme.

Future funding rounds

The 2024/2025 funding round will allocate a further $2.95m in funding, and is scheduled to open in mid-2024.

News about the SEEC Programme, including information on upcoming funding rounds, is shared through MBIE’s ‘Energy Hardship Update’ e-newsletter. Click the link below to subscribe.

Energy Hardship update

Eligibility

The SEEC Fund is open to organisations, groups and businesses who can work closely with households experiencing energy hardship or expand their services to do so. Applicants to the SEEC Fund can apply for funding from the SEEC Equipment and Devices Fund at the same time.

Eligible groups can include:

• community service providers
• training organisations
• social enterprises
• iwi support services
• NGOs
• businesses
• community groups
• budget advisory bodies.

New and previous applicants — both successful and unsuccessful in previous funding rounds – who meet the eligibility criteria may apply.

Eligibility criteria

There are 6 key eligibility criteria that must be met to apply for the SEEC Fund and SEEC Equipment and Devices Fund.

Applicants must be:

• Trusted – able to provide credible, independent, electricity-specific advice and support services, ideally personalised to the household.
• Connected – able to effectively reach eligible households, especially those that are hard to reach and unaware help is available.
• Integrated – able to link with other relevant services and, where possible, leverage additional non-government funding.
• Proven – applicants for long-term funding must demonstrate a proven track record of delivering support services.

Initiatives must be:

• Targeted – focused on helping households achieve energy wellbeing, including renters and owner-occupiers, and involve the account holder where possible.
• Measurable – able to be measured and monitored to show results.

Funded Projects

Round 1

A total of $1.26 million was allocated to 9 projects in the first funding round, announced in May 2021.

Funding for round 1 focused on pilots that could be implemented to deliver results by winter 2021, and that had the potential to scale.

Support for Energy Education in Communities Programme funding recipients – Round 1

Government gives households extra help to reduce their power bills(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

Round 2

A total of $1.65 million was allocated to 15 projects in the second funding round, announced in November 2021.

Funding for round 2 focused on pilots that have potential to scale and can be substantially delivered within 12 months.

Priority was given to initiatives that filled gaps in terms of location, type and who the initiative targets, to build on the projects funded in the first round.

Support for Energy Education in Communities Programme funding recipients - Round 2

More energy saving advice to hit home thanks to government funding(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

Funding Boost

In April 2022, MBIE brought forward $350,000 of SEEC funding to be made available to existing SEEC-funded projects that could be restarted or extended to deliver further energy education and support through autumn and winter 2022.

This was in response to the growing cost of living, which was likely to be exacerbated as winter increased households’ energy needs.

It drew on the opportunity to provide more immediate support to households in need by enabling existing SEEC providers to maintain momentum, using existing staff and delivery capability.

Earlier recipients of SEEC Programme funding were invited to apply for a funding boost to restart or extend their SEEC-funded pilot.

In May 2022, 5 existing SEEC projects were selected to receive a funding boost.

Support for Energy Education in Communities (SEEC) Programme - Funding Boost recipients

Round 3

A total of $1.7 million was allocated to 17 projects around the country in the third funding round, announced in November 2022.

The funding focus for round 3 was on pilot projects that:

• filled gaps in the projects funded to date in terms of the type of project, location, and the people and communities they target, and/or
• built on the success of SEEC-funded projects to date, and
• had the potential to scale.

Support for Energy Education in Communities Programme funding recipients – Round 3

Government supports more energy-saving projects to help more Kiwis save money(external link) — beehive.govt.nz

Progress reporting

Data and insights from completed projects funded in rounds 1, 2 and 3.

More information

To receive updates about the SEEC Programme, including information on future funding rounds and other energy hardship initiatives, please sign up to the Energy Hardship Update e-newsletter.

Energy Hardship Update e-newsletter

You can also email the SEEC Programme team at:

seec@mbie.govt.nz