The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
Rewiring Aotearoa's policy director Dave Karl talks to Damien Venuto about the expensive energy subscriptions most of us have to pay now and the role of solar, batteries and finance in reducing those massive costs. "Factoring in the cost of the system, Karl estimates that a family would be as much as $37,000 better off at the end of that 30-year period. And the savings would keep coming in the years that followed."
Electricity costs were up a staggering 12.2% in the December quarter, according to the latest figures from Statistics New Zealand.
The striking thing about this is that an energy bill is something we simply have to pay. It isn’t our morning coffee treat, a discretionary item we can easily opt out of buying for a few weeks.
Tinkering around the edges by reducing usage will help to moderate the bill, but it won’t make you immune to the impact of inflation. According to Karl, a better approach is to reduce your dependency on traditional energy providers.
Rewiring Aotearoa is in favour of universal Road User Charges as we believe it will address an artificial market distortion for vehicles that is not in New Zealand’s economic, fuel security, or resilience interests. Here's what we told the Select Committee.
Read moreDownloadThe story of Uruguay's renewable push and why it's relevant here; EVs reach a tipping point in the EU, but they're growing in developing nations, too; Tauranga Crossing and Endless Energy go vertical with a new solar install; new research shows panels keep on trucking far past their warranty periods; and if you need a hand getting out on the waves, how about getting your own electric towing machine.
Read moreDownloadOur Political Power series aims to show that going electric is good for everyone, no matter where you sit on the political sprectrum. Whether you're looking to lower costs, reduce emissions or increase resilience, it increasingly makes sense at an individual, community and country level and ACT's Todd Stephenson, who bought an electric Jeep around one year ago and built his new home in Queenstown to run on electrons, is a good example of that.
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