'This car can...' Check out our new campaign
We've been talking about energy for ages at Rewiring, but everyone else seems to be talking about it, too, primarily because price rises are proving to so painful for so many homes and businesses. One way to reduce that pain is by offering long-term, low-interest loans for electric upgrades, something we've been working hard on for a while, and that was the subject of a front page story on The Post. In it, questions were raised about the amount of money being spent on consultants (and some of the advice then being ignored) and whether the Government would back the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme.
Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey featured prominently with the quote: "It's just time to stop spending money on consulting to come up with new ideas ... we really need to start taking action."
Read the full story here (paywalled)⚡
Right now, an average home could save about $1,000 a year, including paying interest on a loan. And there are a lot of other 'positive externalities', as the economists say.
We don't need subsidies to make solar economic, but where subsidies will help is if we want to speed things up, like they've done in Australia. Subsidies will encourage people with money or access to finance to go out and buy solar and batteries, but long-term, low-interest finance is more important because it means more New Zealand households, especially lower-income homes, will be able to access those technologies and save money from day one.
Find out more about the RAS and why it makes so much sense here.
New South Wales gets the memo about the importance of finance and announces scheme offering zero interest loans to households to upgrade to electric stuff; plug-in solar gets the tick of approval to go on sale in the UK soon and the New York Times says it could 'change America'; EVolocity takes electrification to the streets to gets the kids inspired (and eventually employed); a tour of the amazing recycling business Redwood Materials; Think Solar and BYD give it away now; and a skit that cuts close to the bone for many solar dads.
Read moreDownloadAdvances in technology and falling costs mean customer-owned solar and batteries can play a critical role in New Zealand’s energy infrastructure - improving affordability, resilience and sustainability. Multiple trading relationships (MTR) and peer-to-peer trading would enable this potential by increasing competition, customer choice, and innovation in the electricity market, unlocking greater consumer benefits from customer solar and batteries.
Read moreDownload
