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We know that going electric can help reduce household bills, but the upfront costs are still a big barrier for many. Getting past that requires access to finance and that's now closer than ever.
As Rewiring Aotearoa's Mike Casey explains, Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Hutt City and New Plymouth District have all signed on as shareholding / founding councils for the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, with EECA also chipping in to get the infrastructure set up.
Our policy manifesto ranked low-interest, long-term electrification loans that are tied to properties as the idea that would have the biggest impact on New Zealand's electrification ambitions - and on household bills. That's one part of this scheme, which has required a lot of hard worked from us, Local Government New Zealand and Local Government Funding Agency, so it's great to see so much support for it.
It means that households will be more easily able to do things like install solar, batteries and hot water heat pumps and they can pay the loan back over time or, depending on circumstances, when the property sells.
This is big news and it will unlock a lot of potential. Now it's time to build public momentum for this.
New South Wales gets the memo about the importance of finance and announces scheme offering zero interest loans to households to upgrade to electric stuff; plug-in solar gets the tick of approval to go on sale in the UK soon and the New York Times says it could 'change America'; EVolocity takes electrification to the streets to gets the kids inspired (and eventually employed); a tour of the amazing recycling business Redwood Materials; Think Solar and BYD give it away now; and a skit that cuts close to the bone for many solar dads.
Read moreDownloadAdvances in technology and falling costs mean customer-owned solar and batteries can play a critical role in New Zealand’s energy infrastructure - improving affordability, resilience and sustainability. Multiple trading relationships (MTR) and peer-to-peer trading would enable this potential by increasing competition, customer choice, and innovation in the electricity market, unlocking greater consumer benefits from customer solar and batteries.
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