'This car can...' Check out our new campaign
“We need more analysis," said pretty much every incumbent faced with a change that might affect their business and instead benefit customers. And that’s pretty much exactly what the energy incumbents said in their submissions to the Electricity Authority on decentralised energy systems.
Most submitters highlighted the fact that "decentralisation is already happening, offers huge potential benefits, and the criticality of urgent action to ensure outcomes for consumers are protected".
But the incumbents shared "significant reservations and concerns, questioning whether decentralisation is necessary or preferable, and calling for more detailed analysis".
Rewiring Aotearoa supports a decentralised future because we believe it's in the interests of customers and the energy system as a whole. If we don’t adapt and harness new technologies, that line on the electricity price estimates graph will continue its ascent.
We understand why the incumbents would raise questions and employ classic delay tactics. It's in their interests (and their shareholders’ interests) to keep things as they are because lines companies get guaranteed returns on their investments and generators benefit from high wholesale electricity prices and don’t lose sales volume to rooftop solar.
This is why we need good referees in the middle and we hope the EA will be led by the evidence and the real experiences of customers, rather than the loud voices that are trying to protect their patch, holding things back and gradually losing their social licence.
We also need to be careful with the idea of 'continued investment in network infrastructure', which the EA reflected from the submissions as an important aspect of unlocking this decentralised future. This sounds good in theory and we will definitely need some grid upgrades, but more poles and wires are set to make up the biggest chunk of bill increases in the coming years, so we don’t want to over-invest, especially given there is now another option.
If a decentralised solution can play a role in deferring or potentially even avoiding costly upgrades by using existing infrastructure more efficiently and also help manage peaks at a lower cost than new poles and wires, that should be prioritised.
The EA needs to ensure we have smarter pricing, better utilisation rates, more visibility of the low voltage network and smarter network management. And the incumbents need to stop delaying the inevitable.
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.
Read moreDownload