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We love a tipping point at Rewiring. We reached an important one last year when our Electric Home research showed that New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world where buying and running electric machines in your home was cheaper than gas and petrol equivalents. And we may have reached another one recently because residential gas connections have dropped from 291,586 in mid-December to 290,530 in mid-April.
Given expected average price increases of around 10% per year, the lack of options customers now have to shift suppliers, and the potential savings from going electric, we're predicting they will keep dropping as we enter what's known as the 'gas death spiral'.
It's important to note that a small proportion of our total gas supply is used by homes. Most of it is used for industry and electricity generation, and there was a bit of a shake-up in 2024 when we dealth with a dry year and a gas shortage.
But it's also important to note that gas in homes makes no sense: it's more expensive, you need to pay more to give your kids asthma, and it's worse for the environment.
Unfortunately, New Zealanders who want to disconnect from the gas network are being confronted with exorbitant costs. Consumer NZ is doing some good work policing the fees being charged to customers, but more needs to be done to reduce them. And more needs to be done to ensure those who are forced to remain on the network aren't burdened by the costs of maintaining it.
If your gas water heater, gas fire or gas cooktop are getting on a bit, don't invest in the wrong tech and get locked into another 15 years of rising prices and unnecessary emissions. Make your next purchasing decision electric.
Check out TVNZ's piece on rising gas prices here https://loom.ly/kR4YpLc
And RNZ's reporting here https://loom.ly/YcTOb5c
A proposal to let people install solar panels and other green technology using low-interest loans from their council needs to go ahead "as soon as possible", its proponents say. The government asked Local Government New Zealand to present its business case for the proposed Ratepayer Assistance Scheme (RAS) in late 2025. However, ministers still had not made any decisions about whether to go ahead with the scheme - which would let councils provide long-term loans to any homeowner who wanted to access them. That's despite growing political support from parties across the spectrum.
Read moreDownloadQueenstown, New Zealand (18 May 2026) Leading politicians debated New Zealand's energy future on the second day of Electrify Queenstown 2026 today. The sold-out session, moderated by journalist Paddy Gower, opened with speeches from Deputy Prime Minister and ACT Party Leader Hon. David Seymour, Labour Leader Rt Hon. Chris Hipkins, Energy Minister Hon. Simeon Brown, New Zealand First Co-Leader and Associate Energy Minister Hon. Shane Jones, Green Party Co-Leader Chlöe Swarbrick, and The Opportunities Party Leader Qiulae Wong.
Read moreDownloadDiesel generators, you're cooked! We’ve seen a few of our electric communities plug in to their EVs at small events and that's great to see, but Hamish Roberge from Tom Tom Productions in Queenstown has developed a solution that can be rolled out for bigger gigs. Roberge is currently on the job delivering the third Electrify Queenstown conference and it was during last year's conference that he was inspired to create NRG Event Batteries.
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