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One's also helluva cleaner, with the average solar install potentially stopping around one metric tonne of coal from being burned at Huntly, as Mike Casey outlines in his opinion piece about the current electricity situation on Newsroom NZ. Solar is by no means a silver bullet for our energy issues, but more of it on our homes, farms and businesses means we can potentially have our cake (keep electricity prices low for New Zealanders and reduce coal use) and eat it too (give customers with solar and batteries the ability to benefit if prices stay high). There will be benefits for everyone in New Zealand if more people own their power, rather than continuing to rent it. But we need to start thinking about customers as part of the infrastructure, something that the market has not been set up to handle.
Read moreDownload the document hereWe've been wanting to get Transport Minister Chris Bishop on our Political Power series for a while now and Mike Casey had a chance to chat with him about his electric life (and his potential anointment as the Archbishop of Electrification) in Queenstown recently.
Read moreDownloadYes, and it's called the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme: As researcher Kimberley O'Sullivan writes: "Rather than being viewed as a luxury policy, supporting low-income households to install solar could make for a practical investment that eases energy hardship and strengthens energy resilience. The Winter Energy Payment will still be needed for many households in the years ahead. But, as global instability increasingly feeds into local energy costs, there is a case for policies that reduce reliance on annual bill support and bring household electricity costs down."
Read moreDownloadGovernment-backed bank loans for businesses hoping to transition from gas to electricity have been announced as part of the Budget and Rewiring Aotearoa believes it’s a positive move that will help more of them get past the upfront cost barrier of electrification. Now it's time to match that with a loan scheme for households.
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