New Plymouth District Council fuel costs soar, but not expected to affect rates

New Plymouth District Council fuel costs have risen 42.5 percent over the last three months, compared to a year earlier.

It paid $111,157 for fuel over March, April, and May - compared to $77,955 over the same period in 2025.

The council's general manager of operational excellence Sarah Downs said it had prioritised use of its electric and hybrid fleet vehicles to minimise the impact of the fuel crisis the council.

"Staff are also encouraged to attend meetings online rather than drive, or to walk, cycle or scooter to meetings if close by."

The council has a fleet of 116 vehicles - of which only nine are full electric, while 24 are hybrids.

The remainder are made up of 47 diesel utes or vehicles, 18 petrol vehicles, 17 small-to-midsized trucks, and one library bus.

Downs said fuel costs dropped in May, partly due to reduced prices at the pump as well reduced use for seasonal activities, such as mowing.

"Any increases to operating costs, including fuel, electricity, insurance, and other costs, can affect rates," she said.

Downs said contractors were absorbing the extra cost of trucking the city's landfill 200km to Marton and its food scraps collection 300km to Waikato.

Mayor Max Brough said it was his understanding fuel costs were being managed and would not have a material affect on rates.

"I had a report at the end of May, a high level report saying that we're tracking okay with everything, because I'm keeping an eye on it every month, obviously nowadays. And there was no mention in there about an increase in rates coming from this at this time and things were tracking along with their budget.

"At the moment, they're juggling everything like they have to do, right, just like everyone else does, and they're managing to find, I guess, I wouldn't like to use the word efficiencies, but they're managing their budgets very well, is my understanding."

A draft Annual Plan rates increase of 4.9 percent was approved earlier this year.

Downs said the council had also experience a significant bump in electricity bills.

"Like everyone, we are impacted with increased costs, particularly the network charges, which have increased significantly. We are looking at ways to mitigate these costs, including solar.

"Last year we entered a five-year agreement to receive about 40 percent of the electricity we use from the New Plymouth Airport solar farm."

The 2025/2026 electricity spend to date was $2,366,076 + GST up by about 7 percent on 2024/2025.

Brough said that had largely been signalled and accounted for in council planning.

"Staff have done all the work around this and it looks like they've got things under control at this stage. I've had nothing brought to my attention about this is going to blow out this budget area.

"The biggest concern is gas and gas is coming off contract and is bigger than than electricity. But I think they put something in the budgets for that too.

"I'm encouraged that they're actively, really actively managing this now. I get to see an end of month report every month that wasn't previously available across the whole organisation. And whilst it may not be my job, I pay the price if it's not there, you know, so I keep an eye on it."