Don't listen to Old Man Gas. Ditch LNG. Support New Zealand-made energy!
RNZ's Susan Edmunds talks about the "thousands of New Zealanders have borrowed from their banks to put solar power systems on their houses". The Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, which will offer low-interest, long-term loans for upgrades is very different to bank loans and will offer every property access to savings, with flexible repayments.
Chief executive of Rewiring Aotearoa Mike Casey said he was "super excited" about what was happening in New Zealand's energy transition.
"A lot of the time we talk about moving from fossil fuels over to electricity, but I think there's a bigger energy transition that's going on here, which is also moving away from traditional energy landlords and towards customers of New Zealand taking a lot of energy sovereignty into their own hands.
"Being able to generate and store energy, it's a whole new dynamic to the New Zealand's energy system that we haven't seen before.
"And while the price of all forms of energy, whether it grid electricity or diesel or petrol or gas, continues to go up at, I think, quite an uncomfortable rate for many New Zealanders, the price of solar and batteries seems to keep coming down."
Political Power has gone local! Dr Nick Smith, mayor of Nelson and ex-National Party minister, is an early adopter when it comes to electric machines but, through his efforts with the council and his close involvement with the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, he's also embracing one of Rewiring's core mantras: once you've electrified your own life, electrify someone else's life, too.
Read moreDownloadWhether it's the growing number of electric buses, new electric trains for the lower North Island and City Rail Link, or new electric ferries, we love seeing more electric transport options in our big cities. It's also good to see some of our smaller cities like Palmerston North, Timaru and Nelson going electric and, as is almost always the case, the drivers reckon it's better on electrons. At the Electrify Nelson expo, we spoke with one driver Lee about the city's electric buses. And he definitely wouldn't go back to diesel.
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