Stuff’s report about the joint Labour-Green electricity announcement on Thursday, says that the policies of the parties will have similarities and differences.
Today, Shearer and Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said they would hold a press conference on Thursday.
“The reason we’re doing this is because we both share the same ambition to bring down electricity prices,” Shearer said.
The policies had similarities and differences, he said.
So I will be hoping to hear something about sustainability from the Greens, given it is a big part of their main energy policy, which says:
The Green Party will:
Redesign the Electricity Commission as a Sustainable Energy Commission with regulatory responsibility for all fuels.
Require an urgent independent review of Transpower’s planned grid upgrade with a view to developing alternatives that have less impact on the environment and better facilitate a sustainable energy system.
Ensure that all major capital projects are tested against sustainable alternatives such as energy efficiency, fuel switching, renewable generation, load shifting and distributed generation.
Investigate introducing ‘progressive pricing’, whereby the more energy you use, the more you pay, above a certain base level.
In 2010, debating the government’s Electricity Industry Bill, Kennedy Graham said:
We contended that the underlying challenge was missing. This was the need for a genuine regulatory framework that would make the playing field level for more sustainable renewable energy. We said that the Government was in danger of missing the whole point.
I will be looking to see how the Greens will incorporate plans to keep electricity prices down, while also working towards use of more renewables, and sustainable use of energy.
In my view, sustainability requires a change in mind-set in how we use electricity: that includes better public transport and less focus on promoting a consumer society.
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