Electricity (Low Fixed Charge Tariff Option for Domestic Consumers) Amendment Regulations 2025
2025/215
Electricity (Low Fixed Charge Tariff Option for Domestic Consumers) Amendment Regulations 2025
Cindy Kiro, Governor-General
Order in Council
At Wellington this 22nd day of September 2025
Present:
Her Excellency the Governor-General in Council
These regulations are made under section 113 of Electricity Industry Act 2010—
(a)
on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council; and
(b)
on the recommendation of the Minister for Energy given after—
(i)
consulting the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; and
(ii)
obtaining and considering advice from the Electricity Authority.
Regulations
1 Title
These regulations are the Electricity (Low Fixed Charge Tariff Option for Domestic Consumers) Amendment Regulations 2025.
2 Commencement
These regulations come into force on 23 October 2025.
3 Principal regulations
These regulations amend the Electricity (Low Fixed Charge Tariff Option for Domestic Consumers) Regulations 2004.
4 Regulation 4 amended (Interpretation)
In regulation 4(1), insert in its appropriate alphabetical order:
injection payment tariff option means a tariff option in which the consumer is entitled to a credit or payment for electricity generated by the consumer and supplied to the relevant network
5 New regulation 25A and cross-heading inserted
After regulation 25, insert:
Injection payment tariff options
25A Injection payment tariff option not alternative tariff option
(1)
Despite regulation 4(1), an injection payment tariff option is not an alternative tariff option or an alternative distributor tariff option.
(2)
Subclause (1) only applies to an injection payment tariff option offered by an electricity retailer if the retailer also offers at least 1 alternative tariff option that is not an injection payment tariff option to homes in the same supply area for the same delivered electricity package.
(3)
Subclause (1) only applies to an injection payment tariff option offered by an electricity distributor if the distributor also offers at least 1 alternative distributor tariff option that is not an injection payment tariff option to homes in the same supply area for the same delivered electricity package.
Rachel Hayward,
Clerk of the Executive Council.
Explanatory note
This note is not part of the regulations but is intended to indicate their general effect.
These regulations, which come into force on 23 October 2025, amend the Electricity (Low Fixed Charge Tariff Option for Domestic Consumers) Regulations 2004 (the principal regulations). The amendments create an exclusion for any tariff option that involves the consumer receiving a credit or payment for electricity they inject back into the network (an injection payment tariff option). If a tariff option is an injection payment tariff option, it will not meet the definition of an alternative tariff option or an alternative distributor tariff option for the purposes of the principal regulations. The exclusion is conditional on at least 1 alternative tariff option or alternative distributor tariff option that is not an injection payment tariff option being made available.
The principal regulations contain a set of rules for electricity retailers and distributors in relation to tariff options and their obligations to provide low fixed charge tariff options to domestic consumers. The rules are designed to assist low-use consumers and encourage energy conservation.
For each electricity package an electricity retailer supplies to homes in its supply areas, the retailer must make at least 1 low fixed charge tariff option available. The low fixed charge tariff option can be bundled (where the retailer is the only person charging the consumer) or split (where the distributor and retailer charge the consumer separately).
If a consumer chooses a low fixed charge tariff option, the retailer’s charges must meet the requirements for a low fixed charge tariff option in regulations 7 to 10 of the principal regulations, and the distributor’s charges (irrespective of whether the tariff option is bundled or split) must meet the requirements for a regulated distributor tariff option in regulations 14 to 17 of the principal regulations. Those requirements include certain comparisons with any alternative tariff option available from the retailer, and any alternative distributor tariff option available from the distributor, to ensure that consumers are able to benefit from the principal regulations as intended.
These regulations insert new regulation 25A, which says an injection payment tariff option is not an alternative tariff option or an alternative distributor tariff option. The effect of that is that any injection payment tariff option offered by the retailer or distributor will be ignored when assessing whether a low fixed charge tariff option or a regulated distributor tariff option complies with the principal regulations. This is conditional on at least 1 alternative tariff option or alternative distributor tariff option that is not an injection payment tariff option being made available.
Date of notification in Gazette: 25 September 2025.
These regulations are administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.