For over 25 years, Total Utilities has been the leading independent electricity and gas broker for schools throughout New Zealand. We work with schools of all sizes – from small rural schools to some of the largest in the country – ensuring they secure competitive energy contracts and maintain financial stability.
Challenge: Rising Energy Costs
With volatile market conditions and significant shifts in electricity and gas prices, schools face increasing pressure on their operating budgets. Accurate budgeting and competitive energy procurement can make a massive difference, freeing up funds for education rather than utilities.
Success Stories
Auckland Primary School – Electricity Cost Increase Mitigated
An Auckland primary school with a roll of just over 500 students faced an electricity cost increase of 24%. They turned to Total Utilities for assistance. Through our competitive market tender process, we secured a new electricity contract that reduced the increase to 10% and provided longer-term price security.
Auckland Intermediate School – Significant Savings Achieved
An Auckland intermediate school with more than 1,000 students went to market early to take advantage of favourable conditions. Their incumbent retailer’s renewal offer represented a 43% increase compared to current invoiced prices. Total Utilities delivered a new contract that was $45,000 cheaper over three years than the renewal offer.
Waikato High School – Gas Contract Savings
A Waikato high school with 700 students has partnered with Total Utilities for nearly 15 years. When their natural gas contract came up for renewal, they were concerned about the impact of declining gas supplies in New Zealand. Once again, Total Utilities delivered – sourcing a new contract that was $56,000 cheaper over two years than the incumbent retailer’s offer.
Our Approach
At Total Utilities, we believe that securing competitive energy prices for schools frees up budget that can be redirected towards our children’s learning rather than covering operational costs. We also provide annual budgetary advice that accounts for changes in transmission and distribution costs, as well as fluctuations in energy contract prices within a budget year. In a rising market, this is critical for setting accurate budgets.
Partner with Total Utilities
If your school is facing rising energy costs or wants to plan ahead, contact-us/talk to us today. We’ll help you navigate the market and secure the best possible outcomes for your budget.
A prominent educational institution in the Waikato operates a large campus with boarding facilities, relying heavily on natural gas for heating and hot water. Energy costs represent a significant portion of its operating budget, making cost control a priority.
The Challenge
As the school’s existing gas contract approached renewal, the incumbent supplier presented a renewal offer. While straightforward, the proposed rates were substantially higher than current market prices. Accepting the offer would have locked the school into two more years of inflated costs, putting pressure on budgets that could otherwise support educational programs.
The school needed:
A cost-effective solution without sacrificing service quality.
A smooth transition with minimal administrative burden.
Confidence that the new contract would remain competitive over time.
The Solution
Total Utilities conducted a comprehensive review of the school’s gas usage and current contract terms. Leveraging market expertise and supplier relationships, the team:
Benchmarked the incumbent’s renewal offer against competitive market rates.
Ran a competitive tender process with multiple suppliers.
Negotiated favorable terms and managed the transition seamlessly.
The Outcome
The new gas supply contract delivered $57,000 in savings over two years compared to the incumbent’s renewal offer. Additional benefits included:
Transparent pricing and improved contract terms
Budget certainty with locked-in competitive rates
Confidence in long-term cost control
Key Insights
Benchmarking renewal offers can uncover significant savings.
Competitive tendering drives better pricing and terms.
Expert procurement support ensures compliance and reduces risk.
“Total Utilities made the process simple and delivered real savings. Their expertise gave us confidence that we were getting the best deal.” – School Business Manager
How Total Utilities Can Help Your Business
Don’t let rising energy costs eat into your bottom line. At Total Utilities, we help Kiwi businesses lock in the most competitive natural gas rates available. Our expert team keeps an eye on market trends, negotiates on your behalf, and makes sure you get the best deal—saving you time and money.
Take control of your energy costs today.
👉 Get in touch with Total Utilities now and start optimising your natural gas pricing to future-proof your business.
Inghams Enterprises is one of New Zealand’s leading poultry producers, operating multiple facilities nationwide. With a strong focus on cost efficiency and sustainability, Inghams aimed to reduce energy costs and improve environmental performance of its energy contracts.
Challenge
Inghams faced rising electricity costs and needed to explore long-term procurement options. The challenge was to identify a solution that balanced:
Cost certainty
Sustainability outcomes
Operational feasibility
Options considered included traditional electricity supply, on-site solar, and market-based renewable energy solutions.
Our Approach
Detailed financial modelling and market analysis of current and future electricity pricing
Evaluation of multiple procurement pathways: traditional supply, behind-the-meter solar, and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)
Feasibility assessment of a solar farm at the Waitoa site
Facilitation of direct engagement with Lodestone Energy to structure a tailored long-term supply agreement
Renée’s analysis goes beyond identifying problems. She’s actively advocating for change through two petitions aimed at reshaping New Zealand’s energy strategy and reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
🔑 Structural Reform
Renée argues that New Zealand’s government structure needs simplification. Overlapping and conflicting ministerial portfolios hinder long-term planning. She points to countries like Norway and Singapore as models of efficient governance and strategic foresight.
🔋 A Long-Term Energy Strategy
At the heart of her proposal is a 50-year bipartisan energy plan—one that balances traditional fuels with renewable innovation. Key elements include:
Continued use of coal, gas, LPG, diesel, and petrol where necessary for energy security and affordability.
Support for renewables like geothermal, solar, wind, biomass, and emerging technologies (e.g., hydrogen, biogas, small nuclear).
Infrastructure upgrades to support distributed generation and grid stability.
Regular reviews to adapt to evolving technologies and energy needs.
🧠 Independent Expert Advisory Panel
Renée proposes the creation of an independent advisory panel made up of representatives from:
Industry
Academia
Technical energy experts
Finance
Community
Policy sectors
This panel would guide and review the national energy strategy, ensuring diverse perspectives and consensus-driven decisions.
💡 ETS Reform
The current Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is under scrutiny. Renée’s paper calls for:
Removing electricity generation from the ETS to reduce household power bills.
Allowing businesses to reinvest ETS costs into their own decarbonisation efforts.
Applying ETS only when viable alternatives exist.
🥕 Incentives Over Penalties
Rather than punitive measures, Renée advocates for targeted funding and incentives—similar to Australia’s approach. Supporting industry and households in their transition is key to achieving meaningful decarbonisation.
🗳️ Support the Petitions
Renée has launched two petitions to drive change:
📌 Energy Strategy Petition
Calls for a realistic, long-term energy plan that includes both traditional fuels and renewables, with regional flexibility and innovation.
📌 ETS Reform Petition
Challenges the current ETS framework, proposing reforms that reduce costs and empower businesses to invest in sustainable practices.
Renée Jens is urging New Zealanders to support these initiatives and help shape a smarter, more resilient energy future.
At Total Utilities, we’re passionate about helping Kiwi businesses navigate the complexities of energy procurement—especially in a market where prices continue to climb and certainty is hard to come by.
Recently, we partnered with a nationwide truck dealership and service agent facing a familiar challenge: a looming electricity contract renewal with a significant price increase from their existing retailer. With multiple sites across Aotearoa and rising operational costs, they needed a smarter, more strategic approach to energy management.
That’s where we came in.
Through a competitive tender process, market benchmarking, and strategic negotiation, we secured a new electricity contract with an alternate supplier—15% lower than the renewal offer. But the benefits didn’t stop there.
The Results:
✅ 15% reduction in electricity costs ✅ Improved contract terms and flexibility ✅ Enhanced long-term energy certainty across multiple locations
This outcome is a testament to the power of informed decision-making and proactive energy strategy. By leveraging market insights and our deep industry expertise, we helped our client not only save money but also gain confidence in their energy future.
Why It Matters:
Energy is often one of the top operating expenses for businesses, yet many organisations renew contracts without exploring alternatives. In today’s volatile energy landscape, taking a strategic approach can unlock significant savings and resilience.
If your business is approaching a contract renewal or simply wants to understand its energy options better, we’d love to kōrero. Whether you’re a single-site operator or a nationwide enterprise, we’re here to help you make smarter energy decisions.
📣 Let’s Talk
If your business is approaching a contract renewal, managing multiple sites, or simply wants to explore smarter energy options—now is the time to act. Reach out to Total Utilities for a no-obligation kōrero about how we can help you reduce costs, improve certainty, and future-proof your energy strategy.
Stay informed. Stay prepared. As New Zealand continues its transition to a low-carbon future, Total Utilities will keep bringing you the latest insights and opportunities to stay ahead.
The Current State of Affairs and the Impact of Deferred Investments
Well, not that much sadly, but the optimist in me sees green shoots of regulatory progress, some generation development activity (at last), but a continued chorus of gas concerns from the choir of Generator/Retailers (gentailers) who benefit hugely from fossil fuel generation being the margin, price setting unit for spot prices.
Of course, mother nature plays her hand in New Zealand Electricity prices, increasingly so as we live with the outcome of deferred investment in new generation and the low level of attractiveness of New Zealand for new investment due to the market power exercised by a largely state owned incumbent generation sector.
Well, there have been some announcements that might ordinarily be cause for optimism; the formation of the Energy Competition Taskforce which brought together the three historically benign regulators in the Electricity Authority, the Commerce Commission and MBIE to address the mounting (mountain?) of evidence that New Zealand Electricity market isn’t delivering the outcomes we would expect for a nation so well-endowed in natural energy resources.
To their credit the task force has already implemented changes that might help, albeit at the margin with developments like adding super peak prices to the ASX energy futures market which has seen some improved liquidity and price disclosure across super peak products, and perhaps a lower peak/off-peak differential in pricing, though this may be more a reflection of increased fossil fuel pricing in off-peak periods. IE higher overall prices.
The task force has also announced a consultation on several potentially significant changes grouped as “level playing field measures”. The “proposed nondiscrimination obligations” would require Gentailers not to treat themselves substantially differently from their non-integrated competitors, or to treat different competitors substantially differently. Given the openness with which the vertically integrated incumbents have posted losses on retail while making record overall profits over the last few years this seems blindingly obvious, as a measure. It would see gentailers having to build a portfolio of internal transfer prices for hedges which would make it far more transparent for the regulators to assess hedge access (market power) issues.
Should this measure still not result in the market delivering competitive outcomes, a second measure sits behind this as a backstop, he proposed “virtual disaggregation measures” refers to splitting the flexible generation capacity of participants who exceed a certain market share into two components: a portion that would be required to be offered, and a portion that would be used by the participant as they see fit.
The Role of Government Dividends
It remains to be seen the extent to which the task force resists the inevitable strong lobbying against these measures from the incumbent players and if implemented how long it takes before we see a return to meaningful retail competition and real customer innovation.
My bet is that we will see all sorts of ballyhoo from the incumbents about how hard they are doing great, and of course, the elephant in the room is the dividends received by the government from their state-controlled gentailers, Genesis, Meridian and Mercury. I’m yet to see an economic analysis to support any assertion that the value of those dividends outweighs the value to our economy of cheap abundant energy delivered through an undistorted or workable efficient market….
However, the Q4 2024 MBIE Energy consumption Stats show that the current market isn’t working for Kiwi businesses with a 9% year-on-year fall in electricity demand from the industrial sector.
Some of this will no doubt be the closure of Winstone Pulp International and the Oji Fibre Solutions’ Penrose plants citing energy cost as a major factor in those decisions, and part is also likely the ramp down of Tiwai at Meridian’s request.
There was much heralding of the benefits to New Zealand of the new Tiwai deal, especially by Meridian:
“This is a fantastic outcome for New Zealand and the Southland region. It’s further proof that large industrial businesses can utilise New Zealand’s renewable energy advantage and create low carbon sustainable products, high value jobs and export dollars for our country.”
But now it would seem that it’s even better for New Zealand when Tiwai doesn’t run. Curious that!
Future Outlook
Another winter of extreme prices in 2025 poses yet another threat to consumer confidence in New Zealand’s electricity market, ultimately threatening the social license that incumbent generators and even distribution businesses have enjoyed for so long.
The reality is that in 2025, for perhaps the first time, grid supply companies may be facing the legitimate threat of substitution as New Zealand’s (and global) grid energy supply becomes more expensive than the delivered cost of rooftop solar for residential consumers.
Recommendations for Businesses
The same trends apply to supply for business consumers, I would go so far as to say that any business in New Zealand facing new supply costs should feel obliged to seek a quote on rooftop solar and battery.
The economics of rooftop solar in terms of delivered cost of energy will continue to improve as regulatory reforms evolve to incentivise consumers to participate in flexibility, and reward investment in distributed energy resources. While escalating grid and distribution costs are now locked in for the next five-year period we should expect to see this continue to increase. From a global perspective, New Zealand is no different to most nations looking to electrify their economies. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance research, US$21 trillion dollars of grid investment is required to reach net zero emissions targets.
We can expect to see more and more businesses taking their destiny into their own hands as our incumbent grid suppliers seek to maximise returns from legacy assets against the improving economics of generation technologies that can generate energy at the point of consumption.
