New Zealand is self-sufficient in all energy forms apart from oil. Total energy consumption was 427.3 PJ in 1998. All sectors of the energy market have been substantially deregulated. The Resource Management Act 1991 regulates the local impacts of energy production and use.
Debate continues about how best to deal with global impacts like carbon dioxide emissions.
Considerable attention focuses on 'polluter pay' approaches. This compared with an aggregate PGSF increase of 5 percent. The emphasis also shifted, with more funding in the energy efficiency and non-traditional renewable areas. The supply of residential sector consumer energy is projected to grow at around 1.1 percent per year between 1998 and 2020, the industrial and commercial sector to decline by 0.3 percent per year, and the transport sector to grow by around 2.0 percent per year. Over the same period electricity consumption is projected to grow each year by around 1.8 percent, the consumer energy of coal by 0.7 percent, oil by 1.9 percent, and gas to decline by an average of around 2.6 percent.