The 'Electric Election': energy policies, side by side
Rewiring Aotearoa always fights for the people who use the energy. The new Electricity Authority chair John Harbord has been doing the same thing for a while now, albeit at the big end of town, so we’re excited to see what he brings to the table because there’s a lot that needs to change.
Having low cost energy for households or industries is a fundamental building block of a productive economy. We should be a nation that is served by its energy system, not a nation in service to an energy sector.
The EA should be commended for its work on export rates and level playing field measures (it also took our Solar Streets idea and ran with it). But it’s largely tinkered around the edges. The rules of the electricity market were written for a bygone era and they need serious reform that is squarely focused on the long term interests of New Zealanders.
Regulation has not kept pace with technology and there’s a big opportunity to fix that. We’re excited to start working with a customer-focused chair and the rest of the EA to make that happen.
Through his work with the Major Electricity Users Group, Harbord will understand how crucial it is for New Zealand’s economy to help businesses get off diminishing and increasingly expensive gas - and that we keep the price of electricity in check to ensure we become more competitive.
As Sapere’s ‘From Faultlines to Resilience’ report showed, helping businesses get over the electric hump and smoothing out connection issues needs to be seen as a crucial part of our energy strategy.
Many officials - both here and overseas - have been almost comically wrong about the uptake of solar, both at a large scale and within homes and businesses. According to the EA, New Zealand just reached 1GW of solar and around half of that is from residential. That's already at MBIE's predicted 'high growth' rate for 2035.
In Australia, rooftop solar is now the country’s biggest power plant by a large margin and home batteries are playing an increasingly important role.
This will eventually be the case in New Zealand, too, and electric vehicles also offer massive potential, as Marc Daalder outlined in an in-depth feature about two-way charging in Newsroom.
This shift to customer-generated energy is inevitable, so the EA, as well as the Commerce Commission (which signs off on expensive upgrades to poles and wires), Transpower (which manages the grid), MBIE, and our lines companies all need to take a moment to understand the future and prepare for it, rather than fight against it.
While our electricity system has its own nuances, we can learn from the countries that are ahead of us and have dealt with the problems that come from more solar and batteries, more EVs and more industrial electrification.
The technology that our networks need to work with distributed generation and storage is already here. Now we need the ambition to use that technology effectively, increase the efficiency of those networks and add value to the New Zealand economy.
Every game needs a good referee, but every game needs to ensure the rules evolve.
'Twas the night before Chris-mas, and all through the house, all the voters were stirring, the pundits showing their nous … the election will soon be over, but the energy crisis won't, so we'll be there to pester whoever is in power about the need to run more of the economy on New Zealand-made energy; can Ethiopia's aggressive push for EVs work and how does New Zealand compare in terms of adoption rates?; a two-way charging trial from Genesis shows promise in Auckland, but there's still a way to go before it's mainstream; small electric vehicles are often overlooked when it comes to electrifying transport, but it's hard to miss this weird French one; a solar-powered cafe (and some electric coffee); and we endorse the political vandalism of Keith of All Trades.
Read moreDownloadPoliticians are being urged to adopt stronger electric vehicle incentives ahead of the election. Climate and energy advocacy group Rewiring Aotearoa is arguing that EVs are one of the most effective long-term solutions for rising transport and energy costs. They're promoting an EV Salary Boost proposal, which would allow workers to access EVs through pre-tax salary arrangements – similarly to already existing schemes in the UK and Australia. Policy and Government Relations Spokesperson Ngaio Neumegen told Kerre Woodham that even with the rising cost of power, it's still cheaper to run an EV than a car running on imported fuel.
A proposal that would let New Zealanders lease an electric car using their before-tax pay has not won a commitment from either National or Labour, with the 7 November election days away. Under the EV Salary Boost, put forward by Rewiring Aotearoa and Drive Electric, an employee would lease a new or used EV for three to five years. The payments would come out of their pay before tax, lowering the cost of running the car. The idea is based on Australia’s novated leasing system, though the groups say they are not proposing a direct copy.
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