NZ energy data
United States and New Zealand, compared
The figures below come from the chart data on this site and on US Energy Data, for 2024 unless noted, scaled by population: the United States has about 340 million people and New Zealand about 5.3 million, so the US is roughly 64 times larger by people and about 115 times larger by GDP.
Scale and per-person use
| United States | New Zealand | |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity consumed | 7,950 TWh | 38.9 TWh |
| Consumed per person | 23.4 MWh | 7.3 MWh |
| Electricity generated | 8,620 TWh | 43.9 TWh |
| Generated per person | 25.3 MWh | 8.3 MWh |
Americans use about three times the electricity per person. Much of that gap is climate (air conditioning), larger homes and a bigger industrial base. New Zealand's total energy picture is different again: transport is the largest final energy use (202 PJ of 525 PJ) and industry the second, so electricity is a smaller slice of the whole than it is in the US.
Who uses it
- United States: residential 37%, commercial 37%, industrial 26%. The split has been stable for two decades.
- New Zealand: residential 36%, industrial 32%, commercial 24%, agriculture 7%. Industrial load is unusually concentrated: one smelter, Tiwai Point, is about 13% of national demand. Industrial consumption has fallen from 15.2 TWh in 2010 to 12.5 TWh in 2024 while household and farm use grew.
Demand growth
- United States: up 47% since 1990, flat through the 2010s, now rising again with data centres and electrification, from 7.6 TWh in 2019 to 7.95 TWh in 2024 (thousands of TWh).
- New Zealand: up 39% since 1990 but flat for 15 years, 39.0 TWh in 2010 and 38.9 TWh in 2024, as industrial decline offset household growth. Connections still rose from 1.7 million to 2.2 million.
How it is generated
- United States has swapped coal for gas and wind. Coal fell from 52% of generation in 1990 to 15% in 2024, gas rose from 12% to 43%, wind and solar together went from nil to 16%, and nuclear held near 19%. Renewables (hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass) are about 22%.
- New Zealand has always been renewable-led and is becoming more so. Hydro fell from 72% in 1990 to 54% in 2024 because demand grew faster than dams, geothermal rose from 6% to 20%, wind from nil to 9%, and solar is just starting at 1.4%. Gas fell from 17% to 9%. Coal is the swing fuel: 13% in the 2005 dry year, 5% in 2024. The renewable share is 85% and there is no nuclear.
- The result is a large carbon gap: about 360 g CO₂e per kWh in the US against 94 g in New Zealand, and the New Zealand figure moves with rainfall rather than policy.
Regional distribution
Both countries are dominated by a few places: Texas, California and Florida in the US; Auckland, Southland and Canterbury in New Zealand. The US has 51 states with very different generation mixes, so the price and carbon scatter charts on the US site work. New Zealand is one grid with a national mix set by the hydro lakes, so regional differences are mostly about demand, not supply, and those scatters have no New Zealand equivalent.
Prices
- Households: US residential electricity is about 16.5 US cents per kWh. New Zealand is 35.5 NZ cents including GST, roughly 18.5 US cents before tax. Similar order, New Zealand a little higher, and the New Zealand real price has risen since 1990 while the US real price has fallen.
- Industry: the gap is much wider. New Zealand industrial power is about 23 NZ cents per kWh; US industrial is under 9 US cents. New Zealand industry pays roughly 60% more.
- Gas and petrol: New Zealand residential gas is about NZ$63 per GJ and rising sharply as fields deplete; US gas is roughly US$14 per thousand cubic feet, about NZ$23 per GJ. Petrol is NZ$2.97 a litre against US$3.86 a gallon, about NZ$1.70 a litre.
Hydrocarbons
The US gas and oil boom has no New Zealand parallel. New Zealand gross gas production has fallen from 264 PJ in 2001 to 109 PJ in 2025, and oil output is a third of its 2008 peak, with no new fields in development. That is why New Zealand gas prices are climbing while US prices are flat.
Reliability
New Zealand customers lose about 220 minutes of supply a year excluding major events and 250 including them (2024). Typical US figures are around 120 to 130 minutes excluding major events, with storms adding a lot on top. New Zealand's long rural overhead networks make it less reliable than the US average; Cyclone Gabrielle pushed the 2023 New Zealand figure to over 600 minutes.
Where the stories diverge most
The US is decarbonising by switching fuels while demand grows again. New Zealand started clean, has flat demand, and its challenges are dry-year backup, a shrinking gas supply and industrial prices rather than emissions.
Sources: the chart data on this site (MBIE, Electricity Authority, Commerce Commission) and on US Energy Data (EIA). Population and GDP from Stats NZ, the US Census Bureau and the IMF. US carbon intensity converted from pounds per MWh; US electricity prices are real 2024 dollars. Exchange rate assumed at NZ$1.70 per US dollar.