National caused the issues with Electricity Gentailers

In his March 2026 State of the Nation speech, Winston Peters attacked the "big four power companies," saying they "control almost 90 percent of the electricity generation and then sell it back to themselves," and pledged to break them up so they "no longer control both the power and the price"

Commentary on the speech noted this implicitly blamed National for the state of the sector while National taxed households to subsidise it.

In fact, Peters himself was Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister in 1998 when New Zealand First voted for the electricity reforms that split the industry and set up the gentailer structure now being criticised.

Commentators also noted Peters and NZ First let gentailers "bank record profits without complaint" for most of this term before pivoting to this policy ahead of the election.