Rewiring Aotearoa

The electric bandwagon is flying this week... ➖ EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) launches a clever cost-savings campaign with Grand Designs NZ host Tom Webster showcasing the many benefits of electric homes. 🔑 Octopus Energy opens the doors of New Zealand's first zero energy bills home this weekend. 🔕 The silent solar revolution is spreading through the developed world. 📈 A glorious graph that shows energy economics winning over politics. 🔋 Ford's new electric ute, which is now available in Australia, shows its towing prowess. 🍒 And Mike Casey embraces his inner electric bogan. Jump on it 👉 https://loom.ly/4AZ1PE8

Welcome to the gas death spiral. 🌀 🔥 No, it's not a heavy metal band or a wrestling move; it's the inevitable decline of the fossil gas network and the steadily increasing costs faced by those who are still stuck on it. 📈 In an RNZ story by Eloise Gibson, Vector chief executive Simon McKenzie warned that it might need to stop supplying gas to some suburbs. While the decision to buy a gas hot water system or gas cooktop might seem safe now, it could come back to bite you in a few years when you find you can't fuel it - and if you can, the fuel is likely to be prohibitively expensive, as those who went early on hydrogen cars are now finding out. https://loom.ly/gjCobiw We can choose to have an orderly transition off gas and help homes (especially low-income homes) finance upgrades to electric machines, or we can have a chaotic transition off gas where supply is occasionally shut off, networks eventually shut down and homeowners may be forced to rip out appliances and are burdened with unplanned costs. Many countries are realising that they shouldn't be sleepwalking into the death spiral. Even Australia, which is one of the world's largest fossil gas exporters, knows gas has no future in the home for a few good reasons: 💲 It makes no economic sense (and renewable gas makes even less economic sense). 🤧 It is a leading cause of respiratory illness in the home, so we are basically paying extra to get asthma. 🌍 And burning it creates unnecessary emissions that are definitely not compatible with any of our climate targets. Households need to be able to swap fuel for finance if they want to electrify and get off the gas. If you want this transition to be orderly, ask your MP why the right kind of finance isn't being offered. Find out more about the electric upgrade options and how much you can save in our electrification guides 👉 https://loom.ly/t-BS2NI

How's this for a cherry on top? 🍒🏆 Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey took home the transformational leadership trophy at tonight's Sustainable Business Network Awards and in his acceptance speech he said he was 'just a megaphone for the incredibly hard work' of the Rewiring Aotearoa team. 📣 There's no doubt he's an effective megaphone, but he's much more than that. He is a tribute to the power of a first and a prime example of the way a successful demonstration project can change people's perspectives. Like many entrepreneurs and innovators before him who were told they couldn't do something (like build rockets/tech companies/wine regions/foiling boats), he decided to create an all-electric cherry orchard near Cromwell back in 2019. Not only did he prove it could be done and that it was good for the planet, he also showed it was good for the bottom line. 💰 🚜 More than 12,000 people have visited the orchard to see how it all works. But, like any good start-up founder, he found a way to scale up his impact after taking on the CEO role at Rewiring Aotearoa and shouting electrification from the rooftops. Now he's on a mission to turn New Zealand into the demonstration project and prove that we can become the world's most electric economy. The transformation is just getting started. Congratulations to all the other winners and finalists. They really are an inspiring bunch of thinkers and tinkerers.

Rewiring Aotearoa was disappointed to hear about the liquidation of SolarZero and the team has fielded a number of questions about what it means for the sector. We feel for the customers who have questions, and the employees and contractors who may not get paid. It might take a while for the full story of the liquidation to come out, but this situation doesn’t dent our confidence in solar technology, which is widely recognised as the lowest cost electricity in human history. One company doesn’t define a sector. Rooftop solar installations are growing at their fastest ever rate in New Zealand, over four million Australian households now have solar installed and solar is booming all around the world. SolarZero was an innovative New Zealand business and can be credited with helping to accelerate the growth of solar in this market, but we have always recommended owning your own rooftop solar rather than renting because customers get all the cost-saving benefits. Adding it to your mortgage is still around half the price of grid electricity and much less if you can pay upfront. Its departure opens up further opportunities for finance providers to enable households to own their own rooftop solar and batteries and it also highlights the need to update the regulations and make sure customers (and innovative businesses) have the confidence to invest and are fairly rewarded for their contribution. Read the full statement here https://loom.ly/NVQeXAk

What a buzz! When Mike Casey presented the story of his all-electric cherry orchard and shared the work of Rewiring Aotearoa to a group of Wairarapa locals a few months back, he told them to aim big, be ambitious and do something that would put the region on the electrification map. And they listened. From small electric machines at the free public expo to big electrification issues raised by the expert speakers at the ticketed conference, the two-day Electrify Wairarapa event covered it all. Kudos to Sustainable Wairarapa and Wai Water Users for jumping on the electric bandwagon and setting such a high bar for the rest of the motu! This is what the grassroots electrification movement looks like. And those roots are growing. If you think there's scope to start something big or small in your region, find out more about what you can do in your own community at https://lnkd.in/giPNZKnM

When it comes to deciding on the best kind of electricity generation for New Zealand, the most important cost is not what a corporation pays to generate it, but what a consumer pays to buy it. The price of crude oil is not what matters to consumers, it’s the price at the pump. And savvy online shoppers always factor in the delivery cost before clicking 'buy'. The same needs to be true of electricity. In our latest paper, which is *content warning* quite dense and aimed squarely at regulators, decision makers and other energy nerds, our team has gone deep on the 'delivered cost of energy' and shown that the value new technologies like rooftop solar and batteries offer to individual customers and the system as a whole is not being recognised appropriately. Here are the highlights: 🗺️ Location matters and generation in locations with higher prices has more value. 🏭 There’s a bias towards bigness but new technology is changing the economic equation and regulators need to examine the old-school architecture. 💲 Customers pay retail, not wholesale, and that must always be factored in to any investment decision. ☀️ Rooftop solar and batteries can change behaviour. This can help customers and the grid but isn't being valued appropriately. 〰️ The playing field is not level and, in some cases, retailers are making a profit investments made by customers. Download the full paper here 👉 https://lnkd.in/g3WVTEX7

Positive vibes. Meet the transformational leaders and innovators in the energy sector.    What powers our civilisation is also powering our deepening global crises. Aotearoa New Zealand has the advantage of abundant renewable resources.     The Next 95 are exploring ways to use that as the basis for a world leading, low carbon economy.    Read more about them and check out the whole category here:  https://lnkd.in/gngH9xzr 

We're feeling energised this week (and not just because Electrify Wairarapa is going off in Masterton) because ... ◀️▶️ The battle to turn EVs into big batteries on wheels takes a major step forward as vehicle-to-grid charging clears a regulatory hurdle in Australia. 💦☀️ Turning cheap solar into hot water is shown to be good for customers and for the grid. 🗺️ New research offers a very detailed look at solar adoption in New Zealand. 🌬️ Do lots of little wind turbines add up to something big? And can a big turbine be turned into a tiny home? 🏊 And BYD goes from fixed to floating with the luxury 'flood resistant' Yangwang U8. https://lnkd.in/giYFkPpA

You may have heard your powerbill is going up. Rewiring Aotearoa’s goal is to make sure we build the cheapest and most renewable energy system for New Zealanders. If all technology was considered fairly in our energy system, the average cost of electricity to the home would be going down, not up. This is because solar (financed on the mortgage) is about 12c per kWh, half the price of the grid. We need to turn our attention to solar and batteries in our homes and on our farms because it’s the cheapest energy for everyday people. It will lower our bills and increase our prosperity.

⚡ 📆 “We want to help people to plan to electrify," says Vern Brassel, one of the main brains behind this week's Electrify Wairarapa conference and free expo. https://lnkd.in/gbEvS5uh 🍵 That's really what it all boils down to (on the induction cooktop, of course) and, as the story in The Post outlines, the goal of the two day event is to "update people on where the technology and opportunities are now, and make them aware of upcoming tech, so when you're thinking about the next appliance you don't just replace it with what you had before". 💲 Fortunately, whether you're a big business looking to save money or a homeowner looking to reduce emissions, those replacements don't need to come at an environmental premium anymore. As Simon Casey says in the story, "we're past a tipping point whereby it becomes far more economic for you to adopt renewable options, even if you have to get a loan to get solar on your house. Because especially with forecast power prices looking to increase, it's only going to get better.” Find out more about the speakers and book your tickets to the Friday session here. electrifywairarapa.nz