Qiulae Wong recently became leader of The Opportunity Party and, as she tells Mike Casey in the second episode of our new series Political Power, she has been on the electric bandwagon for a while now.
When she and her partner returned from London, they looked a getting a hybrid but instead bought a Tesla with an assist from the Clean Car Rebate; they upgraded their electric heating to a more efficient heatpump with the help of a green loan; and the next step is getting solar - although, as she says, being the leader of a political party doesn't leave much time to go through the quotes.
Her dad is pretty pro-gas, something she says is common in Chinese circles, but she showed him how their induction cooktop worked last Christmas and he was amazed at how responsive it was.
When it comes to getting New Zealanders off gas, she says it's an equity issue. That's why the Government needs to help those who are least able to afford the electric upgrades and will eventually get stuck with the rising costs and why she's also supportive of the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, which would offer low-interest, long-term loans to homeowners. \While she thinks we need significant reforms of the energy market, she says we also need to stop the flip flopping between Governments and, in a similar way to places like Ireland, build a vision that Kiwis can believe in. "This is where we're going. We could be the most electrified, cheapest renewable energy country in the world. And that's in our DNA. It's kind of what we're built on and people know us for. But we're starting to lose a bit of that reputation internationally."
While she thinks we need significant reforms of the energy market, she says we also need to stop the flip flopping between Governments and, in a similar way to places like Ireland, build a vision that Kiwis can believe in.
"This is where we're going. We could be the most electrified, cheapest renewable energy country in the world. And that's in our DNA. It's kind of what we're built on and people know us for. But we're starting to lose a bit of that reputation internationally."
"Advice that government officials tried to redact shows there is "low need" for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility. A newly unredacted version of modelling commissioned by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) was released to RNZ following a complaint to the Ombudsman. It shows that in some scenarios, no LNG is needed at all."
Mike Casey: "They're going with the cheaper option and ultimately then outgrowing that solar system very, very quickly … they'll get a solar installer who will ask for their power bills over the last few months and they'll design a solar system that's optimised for return for that particular movement in time but then you add more electricity demand."
Read moreDownloadThere's more scepticism about who'll end up paying for a new LNG terminal. The Government's pressing on with plans but scrapping a proposed levy on power bills, intended to pay for the facility. It's also announced stronger dry year supply requirements and penalties for gentailers. Rewiring Aotearoa Chief Executive Mike Casey told Francesca Rudkin he hopes the facility doesn't get built – especially if the cost falls on gentailers. He says it'll be a great outcome for consumers if gentailers are not forced to pay for it, but then the question of where the money comes from remains.