4 Jun 2025

Transpower chair calls for major reform of electricity market

From Nine To Noon, 9:05 am on 4 June 2025

Outgoing Transpower chair Keith Turner says the country's electricity sector needs real reform and changes around the edges will not do.

And he says there are doable changes, such as introducing the single buyer model, that will reduce the share price of the so-called big four gentailers, and ultimately lead to lower prices for consumers and a more productive economy.

Keith leaves after a 50-year career in electricity here and in Australia that has included stints as chief executive of one of Meridian Energy and leading the setup of the country's grid operator, Transpower, where he finished as chair last week.

Keith was also pivotal as one of the members of the 1989 Electricity Taskforce that laid out the blueprint for the reforms for the electricity industry we have today.

But it is a system that is now delivering high prices to consumers and high profits to four generator-retailer companies.

Keith Turner finished as chair of Transpower last week.

Photo: Supplied by Transpower / 123rf