Source
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/building-and-energy/energy-and-natural-resources/energy-statistics-and-modelling/energy-statistics/energy-prices/electricity-cost-and-price-monitoring — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
Summary
RD_018 is MBIE’s Quarterly Survey of Domestic Electricity Prices (QSDEP) for 15 February 2026 — the report (PDF) plus the data workbook (xlsx). QSDEP models a single “typical” New Zealand household — 8,000 kWh/year (≈22 kWh/day) on the cheapest publicly-advertised low-user tariff — and reports its modelled retail price, split into a Lines component (transmission + distribution) and an Energy-and-Other-Costs component, for ~43 towns and cities plus a national average, GST-inclusive. On 15 Feb 2026 the national average was 40.6 c/kWh (15.2 lines + 25.4 energy), and the xlsx carries the full quarterly series back to February 2004 (16.52 → 40.60 c/kWh nationally, ~2.5× nominal over 22 years). For the Neobiome pilot region it gives Richmond / Network Tasman 37.72 c/kWh and Nelson 37.22 c/kWh. This dataset is the primary MBIE source behind CR_009 and the 8,000 kWh design benchmark, resolving RT_097. The essential caveat: QSDEP reports publicly advertised low-user tariffs on one date — not what households actually pay (MBIE’s separate sales-based series captures real discounts).
Key claims
See key_claims frontmatter (6 claims, cited to report section / xlsx sheet). All prices are GST-inclusive, nominal, for the modelled 8,000 kWh low-user household on advertised tariffs.
Neobiome Intelligence relevance
- The 8,000 kWh design benchmark, sourced. QSDEP is the authoritative origin of the 8,000 kWh/year standard-household figure the NI model uses for the Tasman pilot — moving it from the wiki-unverified CR_006 estimate / CR_009 synthesis to a primary MBIE source. Resolves RT_097 and partially advances RT_077. RD_018 CR_009
- Pilot-region electricity price (the avoided-cost input). Richmond/Network Tasman 37.72 c/kWh and Nelson 37.22 c/kWh (Feb 2026) are the directly-usable grid-price baseline against which an NI community generation/storage build’s avoided cost and payback are computed — the retail price a self-sufficient community displaces. Sits ~7-8% below the national 40.6 c/kWh. Feeds D01. RD_018
- Lines-vs-energy decomposition (for grid-defection logic). The split (Richmond: 10.9 c/kWh lines + 26.8 c/kWh energy) matters because a grid-connected community still pays lines/fixed charges even when self-generating — only the energy component is fully avoidable behind the meter. The decomposition is the structural input for any grid-vs-off-grid breakeven (cf. RT_214/215 grid-connection costs). RD_018
- 22-year price trend (escalation assumption). The 2004→2026 series (16.52 → 40.60 c/kWh nationally) gives an empirical NZ retail-price escalation basis for NI’s multi-year payback/NPV calculations, instead of an assumed inflator. RD_018
- ⚠ Advertised, not actual. QSDEP prices are publicly-advertised low-user tariffs on one date — they exclude the discounts and trust distributions households actually receive (e.g. Network Tasman’s 2.6 c/kWh discount + 1.0 c/kWh trust distribution). For true avoided-cost modelling, treat QSDEP as the consistent upper-bound advertised baseline and cross-check against MBIE’s sales-based series. RD_018
Research targets
Research gaps
- MBIE sales-based electricity cost series — the actual-paid counterpart to QSDEP’s advertised prices; needed to bound the real avoided-cost the NI model should use for the pilot (QSDEP gives the advertised upper bound). (Candidate new RT — MBIE Energy Prices / sales-based dataset.)
- Whether the Network Tasman ownership discount + trust distribution should be netted off the 37.72 c/kWh pilot price in NI’s avoided-cost calculation (a modelling-convention decision, tracked with the pilot cost RTs).
Connections
Links to
Sources (1): CR_009
EDT domains (1): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems
Referenced by
Sources (8): LIT_067 · OT_065 · OT_066 · OT_153 · REG_005 · URL_012 · URL_014 · URL_023
EDT domains (1): D01: Renewable Energy & Storage Systems
SSI indicators (1): I01: Financial & Economic Self-Sufficiency