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Lucy Cooper talks to Justine Prain and Vern Brassel about two free events that are "designed to light a spark for those thinking about electrifying their homes and businesses".
We've loved seeing community groups develop and there are now over 20 of them around the motu, with many more set to start up soon. Wairarapa is one of the regions leading the charge after putting on a two-day conference last year and they're following up on that success by turning it into an ongoing project and running two events.
Word of mouth is a powerful force and the neighbouhood effect is real so the first event will focus on local case studies (including Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey's dad Simon).
“We’ve got a couple of people talking about their own experience of solar and battery, as well as hot water heat pumps,” Vern Brasell said. “And Lindsay Cairns from Masterweave Textiles will talk about why it made sense to go solar for a business.”
The success of this group is a powerful demonstration of the way grassroots action can change perspectives - and how electrification appeals right across the political spectrum.
Book your tickets to the event at https://events.humanitix.com/why-electrify-wairarapa?hxchl=hex-pfl
In the last Electric Avenue of 2025, we look at the two biggest trends in the world of energy; the Government goes electric for its fancy fleet upgrade; Nick Offerman offers his services to a US campaign extolling the virtues of EVs; Australia shows what's possible in new homes when you add solar, batteries and smart tech; a start-up selling portable solar and battery systems that wants it to be as easy and common as wi-fi; and The Lines Company looks to put some solar on the roof of the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House.
Read moreDownloadWhen 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.
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