The 'Electric Election': energy policies, side by side
'You're asking me to use more electricity even though it's getting more expensive?' As you may have gathered, we're pro-electron here at Rewiring, but it's hard to get past this perception and, over the past couple of years, stories about cost increases and supply shortages have been in the news a lot. Not surprisingly, that's affecting the attitudes of New Zealanders and a recent survey from Octopus Energy showed that 85% of respondents were just as worried or more worried about the rising price of electricity this year and 70% thought the Government wasn’t doing enough to help address these costs.
What's not well understood is that upgrading to an electric home and car will require more electricity but much less energy overall when compared to a fossil fuel home and car. Energy is money and rooftop solar, the cheapest form of delivered electricity available to New Zealand homes, reduces those costs even further.
There was more concern about prices after news of Flick's wind-up and its customers heading to Meridian, but more retail competion or structural separation is not guaranteed to reduce the costs for customers because most of the bill increases in the coming years will be to pay for upgrades to our poles and wires.
The sad thing is that it has never been cheaper to generate and store electricity at our own homes. So if the Government is serious about reducing costs for Kiwis, why isn’t it doing anything to help New Zealanders access the savings while also ensuring our existing infrastructure is used more efficiently?
Newsroom's Marc Daalder showed that the Government proposed and then axed home solar incentives and, as Mike Casey said in the piece: “If 80 percent of the rooftops in New Zealand had rooftop solar, based on 2024 figures it would buy us another 29 days’ worth of storage in our hydro lakes – which would have halved the wholesale rate of electricity last year. So there’s a really big reason to look at turbocharging solar adoption in this country, both from a household and cost-of-living perspective as well as an overall energy system perspective.”
While we are working hard to get Wellington to step up, you don't need to wait for Wellington. If you're worried about the rising costs of energy, maybe it's time to put your roof to work and own your energy, rather than just look for a new retailer or search for a few cents off a litre at a different petrol station.
'Twas the night before Chris-mas, and all through the house, all the voters were stirring, the pundits showing their nous … the election will soon be over, but the energy crisis won't, so we'll be there to pester whoever is in power about the need to run more of the economy on New Zealand-made energy; can Ethiopia's aggressive push for EVs work and how does New Zealand compare in terms of adoption rates?; a two-way charging trial from Genesis shows promise in Auckland, but there's still a way to go before it's mainstream; small electric vehicles are often overlooked when it comes to electrifying transport, but it's hard to miss this weird French one; a solar-powered cafe (and some electric coffee); and we endorse the political vandalism of Keith of All Trades.
Read moreDownloadPoliticians are being urged to adopt stronger electric vehicle incentives ahead of the election. Climate and energy advocacy group Rewiring Aotearoa is arguing that EVs are one of the most effective long-term solutions for rising transport and energy costs. They're promoting an EV Salary Boost proposal, which would allow workers to access EVs through pre-tax salary arrangements – similarly to already existing schemes in the UK and Australia. Policy and Government Relations Spokesperson Ngaio Neumegen told Kerre Woodham that even with the rising cost of power, it's still cheaper to run an EV than a car running on imported fuel.
A proposal that would let New Zealanders lease an electric car using their before-tax pay has not won a commitment from either National or Labour, with the 7 November election days away. Under the EV Salary Boost, put forward by Rewiring Aotearoa and Drive Electric, an employee would lease a new or used EV for three to five years. The payments would come out of their pay before tax, lowering the cost of running the car. The idea is based on Australia’s novated leasing system, though the groups say they are not proposing a direct copy.
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