Read our new Electric Homes and Vehicles report
Energy has been a huge issue for the New Zealand economy in recent years, and a growing concern for everyday New Zealanders, but there wasn’t a huge focus on it in the Budget. While we see this as a missed opportunity, Minister Simon Watts, Minister Shane Jones and their Cabinet colleagues have an opportunity to make up for it before next year’s election and, next week, Rewiring Aotearoa will show them how with the launch of our policy manifesto.
It outlines an achievable, evidence-based, low-cost plan that will lead to a cheaper, cleaner and more resilient & secure energy system and a more productive economy.
The energy-related Budget announcement that got the most attention was $200 million earmarked for Government investment into new gas fields. It’s not a huge amount, the gas may never be found and we hope it won’t be needed but, as Minister Jones suggests, it’s important to be pragmatic about the need for gas in the short term to ensure our electricity system functions and industrial users can continue operating.
But it’s also important to point out that the sooner we get households and small businesses off gas, the sooner New Zealanders will have lower bills because gas in all its forms - fossil gas, hydrogen, LPG, liquid natural gas (LNG), and so-called ‘renewable’ gas - is now more expensive than electrification.
A recent survey showed 85% of respondents were just as worried or more worried about the rising price of electricity this year compared to last and 70% thought the government was not doing enough to help address these costs. The sad thing is that it has never been cheaper to generate and store electricity with solar and batteries, yet prices for New Zealanders continue to rise.
Solar and batteries can also play an important role in terms of energy security by keeping water in our hydro lakes.
There is so much momentum on the ground around electrification and increasing numbers of farmers, homeowners and businesses can see that it stacks up economically and environmentally. Our Machine Count report showed 84% of the fossil fuel machines in the country are both technically and economically feasible to electrify and already have easily available alternatives. But there are some big barriers in the way.
We want the current Government to recognise the opportunity it has to save New Zealanders money on their energy bills, reduce our emissions, keep the lights on and grow the economy in the next 18 months, and we want the opposition parties to greatly increase their electrification ambition to get the votes they need. We believe our policy manifesto will fill the energy gap in this budget and provide a vision that all our politicians should get behind.
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When Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
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