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As Mike Casey told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB, while we might not be able to do much about the oil required to make the plastic pipes (and the coming price increases), we can do something to insulate ourselves against petrol and diesel price spikes.
"Have you bought Kate her EV yet?"
Around two thirds of the total energy New Zealand uses comes from fossil fuels, most of which are imported. And we've seen how risky that reliance is recently as prices went through the roof.
When you add households and their cars together as a sector, it is the biggest energy user in the country. That's why we're so focused on helping them upgrade to electric, because greater prosperity begins at home.
Our Machine Count report released last year showed there were ten million fossil fuel machines in the country. A very small number don't have electric options (yet). Some require a bit of effort to electrify. And around 8.5 million of them could be electrified economically today using current technology.
Many of those machines are vehicles and ensuring more of them run on cheaper New Zealand-made energy needs to be seen as an issue of national and economic security.
See how going electric can improve our energy security here.
High fuel prices are hurting different demographics in different ways. We've seen stories of low-income households having to choose between food and transport; businesses reliant on diesel that are on the brink as margins shrink; and now, those in rural districts spending "as much as five times more of their household budgets on fuel than city dwellers".
Paul Spain heads to Central Otago to meet Mike Casey at Electric Cherries, exploring what happens when tech thinking meets hands‑on farming. Mike shares his journey from scaling tech startups in Sydney to creating New Zealand’s first fully electric cherry orchard, powered by onsite solar to reduce energy costs and build long‑term resilience. The conversation dives into the real economics of electrification, smart infrastructure choices, and how practical technology decisions can unlock productivity, sustainability, and future growth for New Zealand businesses.
Read moreDownloadThe OECD has just released its 2026 report on New Zealand's economy. And when it comes to energy, it basically gave us a 'must try harder' grade. On the proposed LNG terminal - which, remarkably, is still not dead yet despite all evidence suggesting it should be - the OECD said, as we have said, that it would not serve its intended function of lowering prices.
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