Up the Kilowahs! Checkout the EDB Scoreboard
Pick the right power. Vote Electric!
As we head into local election season, we're backing electrification and we want you to ensure that your local representatives will make electrification easy and affordable for all of us.
Whether you’re focused on the economics, the emissions or the energy security, everyone wins from going electric. It makes sense for homes, businesses, cities, councils, regions and the country as a whole, and we need our elected officials to understand the massive opportunity that they can help unlock.
Our big ask is that all councils support the proposed Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, which could offer long-term, low-interest loans for electrification upgrades alongside other cost of living and housing benefits. Quite a few have already signed up and we're hopeful many more will follow, so let everyone know this is something you want in your area.
We're also asking them to support local community electrification groups, get off increasingly expensive gas at council facilities, add solar to public buildings, and share information on electrification that can help households save money and reduce emissions.
We've listed all the things that local government can do, created a handy tool that can generate an email to send to candidates, come up with some questions you can ask at meetings, and created a few assets for you to share on social.
Vote for lower bills, lower emissions and higher resilience. Vote electric.
How the sun led to higher salaries for teachers in the US and why this should be happening here, too; how "the once-rigid link between economic growth and carbon emissions is breaking across the vast majority of the world" as electrification gives more countries a productivity boost (and how that would allow New Zealand to keep embracing our long, languid summer break); solar continues to weather storms and provide 'free resilience'; Dunedin laundry company Preens goes electric and saves over 300 utes worth of emissions; the company that wants you to drink diesel exhaust; and a wonderful rundown of the Kill Bills tour - and the national electrification opportunity - from one of the tour sponsors.
Read moreDownloadAs gas supplies decline and prices rise, electrification is the best bet, but it's hard for big businesses without government support. Kirsty Johnston talks to Rainbow Nurseries about how it made the switch with help from a grant, and others who are unsure they will be able to keep getting gas. As one busines owner said: "We never considered the risk to the business of not actually having natural gas," one participant said. "We always expect that the price could fluctuate… But we never anticipated maybe having no gas coming from the pipeline." There are ways for the Government to help. And there is a huge amount of new renewable electricity coming on stream, so there won't be a shortage of electrons.
Read moreDownloadMarc Daalder reports on Vector's declining gas network and how it is responding to falling customer numbers. As he writes: "Gas in Auckland is formally past its peak in the latest forecasts from Vector, the city’s only gas distribution business, with new connections set to fall to zero in three years ... From 2029, there would be no new residential or commercial connections – with new industrial connections projected to have already ceased this year."
Read moreDownload