Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey has taken home the transformational leadership trophy at the Sustainable Business Awards.

Speaking on behalf of the judging panel, Mindful Money's Barry Coates said: “Mike’s work is a testament to the viability of electrification at scale. His all-electric cherry orchard not only demonstrates the practical steps for lowering emissions but also proves these changes make sound business sense. Mike has been a tireless advocate for electrifying everything. His approach in catalysing a credible brains-trust to both challenge the established science and demonstrate a change model at Government level and for major business leaders is an impressive step towards this paradigm shift in the energy and transmission sector."

In his acceptance speech he said he was 'just a megaphone for the incredibly hard work' of the Rewiring Aotearoa team. There's no doubt he's an effective megaphone, but he's much more than that. He is a tribute to the power of a first and a prime example of the way a successful demonstration project can change people's perspectives.

Like many entrepreneurs and innovators before him who were told they couldn't do something (like build rockets/tech companies/wine regions/foiling boats), he decided to create an all-electric cherry orchard near Cromwell back in 2019. Not only did he prove it could be done and that it was good for the planet, he also showed it was good for the bottom line.

But, like any good start-up founder, he found a way to scale up his impact after taking on the CEO role at Rewiring Aotearoa and shouting electrification from the rooftops. More than 12,000 people have visited the orchard to see how it all works, he has spoken at over 100 events and made over 100 media appearances. Now he's on a mission to turn New Zealand into a demonstration project and prove that we can become the world's most electric economy. The transformation is just getting started.

Transformational Leadership Commendations were awarded to:

• Oliver Hunt – Medsalv (Canterbury)
• Debbi & Paul Brainerd – The Headwaters Eco Lodge (Otago)
• Rui Peng – Critical. (Auckland)
• Michael Eaglen – EV Maritime (Auckland)
• Deborah Manning, New Zealand Food Network (Auckland)
• Peri Drysdale, Untouched World (Canterbury)

In the Disruptive innovation category, Lodestone Energy took the title, making it a double for solar advaocates (although. to be clear, solar farms and rooftop solar are two different kettles of fish).

“Lodestone shows how clean energy solutions can be financially viable, enhancing New Zealand’s energy security and contributing significantly to our zero-carbon ambitions," says Coates. "The scope of Lodestone’s impact is impressive. With the capacity to power 50,000 homes, its five solar farms demonstrate that solar power generation is a low-cost and viable source of power to help meet the demands of our electrifying economy.

“The company’s dual land-use model shows its forward-thinking approach. By raising panels to allow agricultural activities like sheep grazing, Lodestone optimises land use, supporting both energy generation and local agriculture,” he said.

Disruptive Innovation Commendations were awarded to:

• Spout Milk (Canterbury)
• Lanaco (Auckland)
• Adaptable Structures (Auckland)
• Zincovery (Canterbury)
• EV Maritime (Auckland)

A new Next 95 list of awards finalists was also unveiled, featuring 95 Kiwi businesses innovators, entrepreneurs, projects and organisations that are leading Aotearoa New Zealand towards a better future.