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“The real hope is in the collective; that many people are working towards this.”
In a Newsroom piece on how to fight against 'eco-paralysis', Dr Niki Harré says people are more likely to take part in something when they believe “we are in this together”. Individual actions are also about "more than material impact; they help to build a collective culture where broader change becomes possible". And that's what is happening with the grassroots electrification movement.
Electrify the Hutt, an expo that was organised by a committed bunch of locals and was inspired by the Electrify Wairarapa event last year, attracted almost 1300 people to the Lower Hutt Town Hall. Attendees were there to hear from experts, see the latest electric tech (including a massive loader), get their questions answered, and even eat a few pikelets cooked by an EV.
It was the largest and most ambitious community electrification event we’ve seen so far and it has definitely set a blueprint for other community groups to follow.
The exit survey saw a huge shift in people moving from 'not sure' about home electrification to feeling more confident after attending the event and, as Rewiring Aotearoa's Mike Casey and Jay Salzke say, it was an honour to be able to provide support to make it happen.
Financial commentator Frances Cook uses her own story to show that that an investment in solar and an EV significantly outperforms the stock market and fellow number cruncher Nadine Higgins says that if you do it right, EVs are cheaper to run and own; EV sales have climbed to their highest level since 2022 and are closing in on 2023's numbers and Go Rentals has just invested $2.3 million in some new Tesla Model Y Premiums; the gap between energy costs of diesel vans and utes and electric vans and utes is absolutely massive; solar is also going off right now, with one installer in Otago 448% above their sales target in March; Lightforce has gone back to the Barretts with a new TV ad; Wellington mayor Andrew Little explains its electrification strategy and Hutt City Council shares data showing how its fleet has gone from dirty Toyotas to cleaner EVs; Shenzen in China has electrified its public transport and taxis and that's come with big benefits - and some challenges; and a very simple illustration of the LNG terminal.
Read moreDownloadAs Minister of energy, climate and local government, Simon Watts had a great opportunity to push the country towards cheaper, cleaner and more reliable New Zealand-made energy. And that’s why we laid down a challenge and gave him the ‘MegaWatts’ moniker last year. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says he did some good things, like enabling more solar on farms, removing tax on solar exports, fixing onerous solar consenting requirements, putting pressure on the lines companies to pull up their socks, and getting the ball rolling on the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme. "But the LNG import terminal appears to have been a defining issue."
Read moreDownloadAfter ‘crunching the numbers’ and adding in new sources of ‘New Zealand-made energy’ to our equations, CEO Mike Casey has announced that Rewiring Aotearoa will be changing its name to Refuelling Aotearoa. There has been a huge amount of independently verified research showing electrification beats fossil fuels on economics, efficiency, emissions and energy security and that there is a huge opportunity for New Zealand to electrify, but the discovery of an infinite supply of snake oil in New Zealand has changed everything, he says.
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