To the Prime Minister and Minister for Energy

We, the undersigned, are calling on the Government to lower energy costs and protect jobs by bringing the electricity market back into public ownership.

The partial privatisation of our electricity system has stopped us from producing as much electricity as we need which means its yet another rising expense in a cost-of-living crisis, putting pressure on homes.

Households and businesses are all paying more than we should be and it’s even led to job losses by forcing businesses to go under.

Treating the electricity market as a source of profit has led to us this point. We must instead treat it as a public utility that serves the interests of working people.

The Government should use its dividends to progressively bring the gentailers back into full public ownership.

By bringing the market back into public ownership, we can bring on new generation and deliver the green energy transition.

If we don’t tackle this problem, household bills will keep rising and Aotearoa will continue to deindustrialise, meaning the loss of even more good jobs.

We must deliver bold change for workers. It’s time to act.

Read the NZCTU TE Kauae Kaimahi's policy