EV Salary Boost: it's a pay rise you can drive!
When you live in a 'pocket neighbourhood', it makes sense to run on the sun and embrace electric tech - and that's exactly what the Peterborough Housing Co-op in Christchurch has done. Jim Small, a trustee for the Ōtākaro Land Trust, says the co-op has been around since the early '80s and it's "designed with the community in mind". Think shared spaces, shared gardens, cars on the outside, shared utilities and shared energy.
Solar helps to keep the costs low for everyone and, as he says, during the summer, the power bill for 14 units and a large common space is less than $1000.
The system was designed for 'minimum constant demand' so it didn't require batteries and it exports very little excess energy.
Overseas, district heating schemes generate centrally and distribute to homes in the area and Peterborough is a microcosm of that approach, with low temperature water pumped around the homes as underfloor heating, "which people love", and heat pumps handling the higher temperature water.
Along with taxes, education and health, energy is proving to be a big talking point in the run up to the election .. which is now 33 days away. All the political parties have released some energy policies .. and while they're quite varied in their approaches .. the main focus seems to be bringing down the cost of electricity for us consumers. Our first guest would like electric transport to also be part of the conversation .. he's calling for a 'great EV comeback' and has some ideas about how to make it happen. Mike Casey, Rewiring Aotearoa Chief Executive joins Jesse.
The electric election continues apace! National announced its 'Electrify NZ 2.0 plan' last week and Mike Casey joined Andrew Dickens on Newstalk ZB to talk about the potential for peer-to-peer trading of energy, the roll of solar in lowering power prices, data centres needing to bring their own generation, and the likelihood that all this talk will turn into action.
