Together they have formed 'Powering Change', an initiative that sets out progress on New Zealand’s climate change goals and details the collective action of members, who represent a broad cross section of electricity and gas companies.

“The energy sector will play a key role in helping New Zealand achieve our climate change goals,” Powering Change spokesperson Bridget Abernethy said.

“The Powering Change website is a way for the energy sector to tell our story so the public can have confidence that change is occurring.

“But it’s more than that, it also represents our pledge that we can and will achieve our goals.

"We’re continuing to make our energy systems smarter and provide innovative solutions for customers, finding better ways to generate, store and use our energy, as well as developing technology to get more out of our infrastructure.”

Powering Change members are: Contact Energy, Firstgas Group, Genesis Energy, Mercury, Meridian Energy, Nova Energy, Orion, Transpower, Unison, Vector, Powerco, Electricity Networks Aotearoa, the Electricity Retailers’ Association, Business NZ Energy Council and the Independent Electricity Generators Association.

Ms Abernethy said creating the Powering Change platform – www.poweringchange.nz – was just a first step.

“We’re working on further detailing our collective action, including developing targets to evaluate our progress,” she said.

Ms Abernethy says transitioning to a low carbon economy requires significant investment - 'Powering Change' demonstrates the energy sector is already making progress.

She says Powering Change members have agreed on six key principles to help guide their actions, focusing on choice, innovation, affordability, reliability, collaboration and care for the environment.