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Batteries in homes and businesses may seem individually small, but they could have a significant impact on the security and resilience of New Zealand’s power system. For example, 120,000 homes (or 5% of households in New Zealand) with a medium-sized battery could potentially reduce the peak electricity load by as much as our largest hydro power station, Manapouri. That’s why we’re asking the powers that be for something called symmetrical export tariffs so that customers with solar and batteries are paid fairly for their contribution, the payback time will be reduced and more people will have the confidence to invest in these technologies so the price of electricity can be reduced and we can keep the lights on in the event of an emergency.
Batteries in homes and businesses may seem individually small, but they could have a significant impact on the security and resilience of New Zealand’s power system.
As an example, 120,000 homes (or 5% of households in New Zealand) with a medium-sized battery could potentially reduce the peak electricity load by as much as our largest hydro power station, Manapouri.
While these batteries would not hold as much energy as Manapouri, they could output the same amount of power for an hour or two when the system really needs it.
That’s why we’re asking the powers that be for something called symmetrical export tariffs so that customers with solar and batteries are paid fairly for their contribution, the payback time will be reduced and more of them will have the confidence to invest in these technologies.
Many of us will be on what industry people call a ‘time of use’ electricity tariff. That means we probably pay more for our power during ‘peak periods’ - usually breakfast time and dinner time - than we do over the rest of the day. This reflects the underlying costs of providing electricity. However, if we have solar and a battery, and produce more energy than we consume (known as ‘export’), we don’t get paid for this export at anywhere near the same rate.
If a customer pays a higher price to consume power at peak times, they should get paid that higher price if they export power and help a neighbour reduce their use.
That’s not happening in New Zealand at the moment, and we think it should be made mandatory.
If that changed, homes, farms and businesses with solar and batteries could be paid around twice what they’re currently being paid for export at peak times, while lowering the price of energy for all New Zealanders and providing a more secure and resilient electricity system overall.
It’s time to level the playing field for New Zealand energy customers.
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.
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