The Green Party's new energy policy has won a cautious vote of support from the business community.
Business NZ said it was delighted the party had dropped its policy of creating a single electricity buyer and replaced it with more thoughtful proposals.
The Greens announced the policy in Wellington yesterday.
They reiterated the party's goal of 100% renewable electricity, laid out plans to phase out fossil fuel generation, and would require power and lines companies to be more accountable and innovative.
It marked a change of direction from the joint Labour-Greens policy announced in 2013, which would have abolished the wholesale electricity market and replaced it with a single buyer charged with deciding how much power companies would be paid for their electricity.
Business NZ energy policy head John Carnegie said the new policy was a "thoughtful reassessment of the NZ Power proposal''.
"They're working with us and the rest of the sector to get their views on board. We think it's a steady, solid return.''
He was less certain about proposals to ban new fossil fuel generation in a bid to reach the 100% renewable goal, which he said "pushed the edges a wee bit''.
Energy spokesman Gareth Hughes said the goal did not necessarily spell the end for the coal-fired Huntly power station or other fossil fuel plants.
Thermal power stations would still be used as a back-stop, he said.
"If there is a drought year, we may need to rely on some fossil fuel generation. The Green Party is OK with that.''
Greens co-leader James Shaw denied the NZ Power policy was scrapped because it was unpopular.
He said technology had changed so much in the past four years that it was no longer necessary.
"The economics of renewables are changing dramatically. The price of batteries, in particular, has come down.
"You're seeing companies like Vector in Auckland which are investing significantly in rooftop solar and battery technology, rather than poles and wires.''
The Greens still plan to place new scrutiny on the wholesale electricity market by launching an independent investigation into the sector.
"This would look into barriers for smaller, innovative players entering or competing in the electricity market.
The party also wants to shake up lines companies, saying transmission and distribution charges have risen twice as quickly as generation costs and make up a disproportionate amount in power bills.
It says 29 lines companies is a high number for a small country, and it wants them to consider mergers if this will save costs.
However Gareth Hughes said companies will not be forcibly merged.
Lines companies will also be required to consider new technologies such as battery storage as an alternative to traditional "poles and wires'' distribution.
The Greens will also require larger electricity retailers to reduce peak demand for electricity, partly by making them offer "time of use'' pricing to customers.
"Currently, the vast majority of consumers are on flat tariffs, which do not vary throughout the day to reflect the underlying costs of the system,'' a policy document said.
Companies will instead have to offer different prices for different times of day, to better reflect the costs of generation.
The Greens will make power companies clearly spell out what each dollar of a power bill is paying for; a move which it believes will encourage people to adopt energy-saving technology.
Households earning less than $50,000 would get a discount on their winter power bills under the Green Party's energy policy.
Aucklanders would get subsidies worth $52 a month from May to August, while people in colder southern regions would get payments of up to $82 a month.
The initiative would extend to 520,000 households and cost about $112million, which the party says could be covered by dividends from state-owned power companies.
