Read our new Electric Homes and Vehicles report
Bucking a common misconception, New Zealanders no longer say recycling is the most effective action they can take to reduce climate pollution ... A recent study from Rewiring Aotearoa, which didn’t attempt to measure consumer sentiment towards climate-friendly actions but did examine the benefits from electrifying homes, found New Zealanders can now save between $1400 and $4700 a year by fully decarbonising their households. This makes New Zealand one of the first countries in the world to reach a “tipping point” where electrifying households is now cheaper than relying on fossil fuels. “If we use more affordable, locally produced electricity – both from our highly renewable grid and through more customer generation – to run our much more efficient electric machines, households and businesses will save money, our energy system will be stronger and more resistant to shocks, the country’s balance of payments will be billions better off because we won’t need to import as many expensive fossil fuels, and our carbon emissions will shrink,” the report found.
Read moreDownload the document hereWhen Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
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