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Rohan O'Neill-Stevens, a Green Party candidate for Nelson and ex-deputy mayor, is among the one third of New Zealanders living in a rental. As he explains in the next instalment of Political Power, that limits the power he has over the machines in his life, but he's doing pretty well on that front and there are ways that could be improved, like Solar for Renters or plug-in solar.
And when you have energy abundance, you can have that 20 minute "treat shower" once a week, rather than once a month, he says.
In 2022, he became the youngest person ever elected to council and O'Neill Stevens also played a role in getting Nelson its electric bus fleet.
Plenty of people thought the project wasn't possible but, with the backing of the community, they nailed it.
"Seeing it come to life is wonderful, but it's also about going, what are the next steps for it."
As a region, Nelson-Tasman is at the leading edge in terms of solar panel and EV uptake, but he says we've still got a long way to go.
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No-one likes a skite, but everyone loves perovskite, including some awesome New Zealand researchers trying to improve the efficiency of solar; why put panels on the roof when you could have panels as walls; electric trucks are increasingly stacking up when it comes to lifetime costs; an induction hob that can 'cook on yesterday's sunshine' gets the tick of approval from appliance giant Miele; CATL's new 15-year battery; and how to fight energy disinformation by talking to lots of disparate groups.
Read moreDownloadNational has announced what it’s calling ‘Electrify NZ 2.0’, a nine point plan to provide affordable power. And while it has a lot of stuff Rewiring has been asking for for a few years, there are a couple of big bits missing, says CEO Mike Casey.
