The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
Mike Casey lays out Rewiring Aotearoa's argument for a regulatory change that would allow customers with solar and batteries to compete fairly with large generators, something we call symmetrical export tariffs. It's important to note that these are not subsidies or rebates. "They simply ensure customers get a true reflection of the value they provide to the electricity market. They are no more a rebate than the half-hourly prices in the wholesale market, paid to generators for their output ... The current pricing structure is compromising New Zealand’s delivery of a secure and affordable power system; it fails to recognise that peak demand could be reduced with the help of household batteries; it perpetuates the idea that we need to spend tens of billions to upgrade our poles and wires to cope with that peak demand; and it is stifling demand for solar and batteries among New Zealanders because their true value is not being accurately reflected in the price paid for export."
Read moreDownload the document here"We've lost the cops!" In our next instalment of Political Power, we managed to get David Seymour, deputy prime minister and leader of the Act Party, behind the wheel of a Zeekr 7x when he was in Queenstown recently. As is often the case when people take a new EV for a spin, there was much chortling as he gave it heaps up the Remarkables ski field road - and, if we take him at his word, we might even see him give Mike Casey's tractor heaps up Parliament steps in the future.
Read moreDownloadEVs are having a moment right now, so how can we get more people driving electric; Tom Selleck sums up how EV owners are feeling right now and staggering analysis shows the sun's prices have been unaffected by decades of geopolitical conflict; Scion goes solar to get off gas, while dairy farmers and homes go with solar and batteries to keep going; Saul Griffith takes his solar-powered scooter to Canberra and starts a fight with regulators; the Cancer Society's Lions Lodge in Hamilton gets some panels donated and will save $17,000 a year; and killing the Friday vibe with new studies on how fossil fuel companies made massive profits after the last energy crisis in 2022 and carbon emissions making our blood boil - perhaps quite literally.
Read moreDownloadAn electrification advocate says the rising price and falling supply of gas may not be a bad thing in the long-term. PwC research —commissioned by Gas Industry Co— has found New Zealand's gas market will need to shrink sharply as domestic supply declines. It warns this could mean business closures, job losses, and higher energy costs.