When it comes to electric farming, "the numbers are becoming undeniable," says Nicholson Poultry's Jeff Collings. With 60kW of solar, a Nissan Leaf as a 'farm quad', electric mowers, an electric ute that can run a water blaster, and even a chicken manure scraper made out of a wrecked Tesla that, as Rewiring's Matt Newman says, looks a bit like something out of Mad Max, "almost everything is electric". There aren't many others in New Zealand who have gone this far down the electric road. And, with his electric Stark Varg, the fastest off-road motorbike in the world, he's obviously having plenty of fun on that road, too.
Read moreDownload the document hereA 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.
Read moreDownload