News & Updates

Rewiring Aotearoa is supportive of the Innovation and non-traditional solutions allowance (INTSA) and the development of Guidance for submissions. Read our full submission by downloading the document.

While the potential implications of the Bill are wide-ranging, our submission has focused on the potential implications for the electrification of Aotearoa NZ if the Bill is enacted as proposed. This is pertinent to Rewiring’s work, because one of our core aims is to help reduce energy bills for customers - NZ’s households, farms, and businesses. Significant changes are needed to fix the status quo, and we are concerned that the Bill may inadvertently bake in the existing rules governing the sector.

Rewiring Aotearoa is supportive of the development of Publicly Available Specification for Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems guidelines. These guidelines can provide a consolidated and trusted source of information to help households navigate the process of choosing and installing solar PV and batteries. There is some messaging and information in the PAS that we think needs to be changed or added to provide households with the best advice to support them to maximise benefits from solar PV and batteries. This includes removing the focus on pay back periods and informing households about cost savings from day one from solar PV and batteries financed over the life of the system. Households also need information about the potential risks of some existing lease to own sales models which provide little real benefit to households with the bulk of the savings captured in suppliers profits. Download the document to read our full submission.

In a cross-submission, Rewiring Aotearoa has responded to a range of concerns raised by other submitters in the Energy Competition Task Force's consulation.

We support the role that government procurement can play in benefitting every community across the motu. We agree that simplifying and streamlining the procurement process is important, and reducing rules is a logical starting point. However, this should not undermine key considerations and past efforts in ensuring government spending supports long-term positive outcomes. Government procurement can support us to go for growth by increasing productivity of energy, which is a fundamental economic input

Overall, Rewiring Aotearoa welcomes the objectives of this package of proposals. from the Energy Competition Task Force. We view the package as a critical step in improving energy system outcomes for all consumers. We consider retailers paying consumers fairly as a critical step, and we are mostly satisfied with the Task Force’s approach to this (initiative 2C) and think it will create better outcomes for New Zealand consumers and the energy system as a whole. In contrast, the Task Force’s preferred option around how distributors are required to reward peak input from consumers (initiative 2A) will not in our view meet the Task Force’s (or the Electricity Authority’s) stated objectives.

Focusing on the emissions reductions at home through electrification is a major opportunity (and challenge) for Aotearoa NZ. Homes, farms, and businesses must play a role in driving emissions reductions through electrification and the potential must be recognised and addressed to our 2035 international climate change target.

Rewiring Aotearoa believes we need to make better use of our existing infrastrucuture, see customers as an essential part of a 21st Century energy system and that electrification will lead to much greater energy security and resilience.

Rewiring Aotearoa's submission to the Electricity Authority on its Network Connections Project - Stage One is in and it is good to see the Authority practicing its statutory objective of protecting the interests of consumers.

The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment opened consultation on a discussion document about amendments to the Electricity Safety Regulations to expand the permitted voltage range for electricity supply. Rewiring Aotearoa's submission believes changes are needed to prepare for the rapid adoption of customer energy resources, and electricity distribution companies need to be compelled to allow export limits to be increased.

The Department for Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Ministry for the Environment proposed a topic for a Long Term Insights Briefing entitled 'Everyone plays a part: building New Zealand’s resilience in the context of global trends and our unique natural environment'. Rewiring Aotearoa's submission says energy security and resilience, critical infrastructure failing and commodity/energy price shocks are especially important for Aotearoa NZ’s resilience to future challenges, and farms can also play an important role.

Our ERP2 submission outlines what we think needs to be done to improve the Government's plan to reach our climate targets, electrify the Aotearoa New Zealand economy and build a fairer future energy system for New Zealanders that saves people money and does not leave anyone behind.

There is a relevant saying: ‘Information wants to be free’. While the proposed Consumer and Data Product Bill takes a step in that direction, it does not offer the level of freedom that could be technically accomplished, nor the level of freedom that is likely to unlock the maximum level of innovation.

Rakiura / Stewart Island faces the highest electricity prices in New Zealand. Successive governments have funded report after report and numerous fly-in visits by Ministers have failed to change this situation for the local community. Rewiring Aotearoa believes the opportunity is to harness existing solar and battery technology to deliver significant cost-of-living savings and reduced emissions at scale via electrification on Stewart Island right now. With financed solar and batteries, electricity usage costs for residents could be halved without delay. Rewiring Aotearoa has been engaging with the local community, who have been sending us their power bills. On Saturday 27th April some of the Rewiring team visited Stewart Island (including Mike Rewi who has strong whakapapa to Stewart Island). What we are hearing from this community is many locals fear the proposals and the likely “preferred option” will be focused on replacing current diesel generators, not on reducing the cost of energy for consumers. Our proposal outlines Rewiring Aotearoa’s pitch for an alternative approach to develop a community-led energy solution for the Island.

Overall, we encourage the Commission to think beyond competition merely as a driver for innovation, to consider the outcomes from innovation for the long term benefit for New Zealanders. Rewiring Aotearoa believes one such outcome from market innovation is supporting the electrification opportunity for Aotearoa New Zealand. The Commission has the opportunity to play an active role in driving this not just through the energy market, but also through the personal banking market. It is important that these functions are not seen in isolation, but as a system, to better realise the Commission's role in delivering on NZ’s emissions reduction plan, and 2050 Nationally Determined Contribution.

18 March 2024: New Zealand is one of the first places in the world where electric appliances and vehicles are now more affordable than their fossil fuel equivalents. A new report has shown that, on average, homes currently using gas appliances and petrol vehicles could save thousands every year if they went electric and got their electricity from a combination of rooftop solar, home battery and New Zealand’s already highly renewable grid.

In this future, consumer infrastructure needs to compete on a level playing field with traditional infrastructure – if a $10,000 battery on a consumer’s premises can provide the same service as a $20,000 supply-side asset (a network or generation investment), the consumer’s asset should be selected for the service. However, today there is a systemic bias towards traditional infrastructure largely because it is seen as significantly more ‘dependable’. There are a variety of historical reasons for this. Our primary context to this submission is that many of the assumptions and rationale for this bias are quickly falling away, and DPP4 provides a significant opportunity for the Commerce Commission (the Commission) to reset the assumptions and correct some of this bias.

The EA has the ability to take a leadership role in the energy transition on behalf of electricity consumers. Far more than the Commerce Commission’s oversight of EDBs investment plans, the EA’s network pricing workplan gives consumers agency in the development of the electricity system. When consumer agency is stifled, they will likely have significantly worse financial outcomes on their bills. Much of the necessary changes have been demonstrated already locally or overseas, and the remaining question is not if the changes are possible but if we as a nation will have the courage to implement them on the timeline required to drive better energy transition outcomes for consumers.

Redwood Materials claims a record with old EV batteries used to store cheap solar to run a small data centre; OneEnergy launches a product that puts the sun directly into your water tank; more plug-in solar news from Ikea and Utah; very fast electric boats and cars; and a beautiful union between two star-crossed lovers.

Victoria looks to get off the residential gas with a range of changes, an announcement in the UK gets everyone excited about V2X, why EVs are a good hedge against geopolitical strife, new comparison and switching partner announced (and we have a couple of requests), and it turns out that keeping the emissions out of the sky is a better idea than trying to catch them.

Australia's battery sales take off as Government incentive drives demand; Australia's first urban renewable energy zone is announced; the Whole Story and Hutt City Council launch some electric resources for kids; Germany finds more uses for solar panels on its highways; and predictions versus reality when it comes to solar and coal.

With a classic Kiwi combination of pride and self-doubt, we charge our glasses after another big week of electric momentum; Auckland gets a glimpse of its first electric ferry from EV Maritime; Whakatane finds a clever way to get past the upfront costs and start running on the sun; a big study shows how pervasive EV myths have become even though they are "demonstrably false"; and our misperceptions continue when it comes to fires at battery energy storage systems.

In this week's collection of electric eyecatchers, Utrecht unveils a pioneering car sharing scheme that embraces vehicle-to-grid technology and bidirectional charging; a company making solar panels that blend in beautifully; a successful community energy project in Rio De Janeiro helps favela residents; China continues to dominate the global electrification race; Saul Griffith releases a new book on how to go electric; and reviewers* call the latest instalment of MegaWatts "a gripping romp, a triumph, a tour de force".

A massive week for New Zealand's electrification push with a big conference, a big manifesto and a big campaign aimed at a minister with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do something big; Farmlands and Blackcurrent launch a new product to make it easier for farmers to invest in solar and storage; ASB compares a house run on dino juice with a house run on electricity; some sage advice from a solar expert about what to look out for; and a car that brings a new meaning to 'electricute'.

Meridian cuts the ribbon on its big new battery set-up at a place that's closely connected to fossil fuels; Aussie company AUSEV gets approval to send its tweaked electric Ford utes to New Zealand; Pivotal sends its electric ultralight flying machine skyward; Phoenix explains - and expands - its solar panel recycling scheme; and Octopus Energy announces a scheme in the UK where landlords and tenants can benefit from solar.

The IEA's EV outlook shows another big bump in global sales; research shows what to focus on if you want to promote EVs (even to the sceptics); New Zealand solar uptake has spiked but is still a long way behind other markets; the price of renewables continues to fall faster than governments predict; the company improving induction (and trying to sneak batteries into homes in appliances); and the companies recycling batteries to get the minerals we need for the electric transition (at lower cost than 'virgin' mining).

It's been a big week for Rewiring Aotearoa with the launch of the Machine Count and there's plenty of electric momentum elsewhere, too, as Tasmanian company Incat launches the world's biggest electric boat, Old Blighty backs Old Brighty with a policy to put solar on all new builds, a Swiss company's mission to add solar panels to the country's railway network and a helpful (satirical) app that allows you to 'meditate through the meltdown' and 'push down the climate anxiety'.

Resilience from solar and batteries comes to the fore after more severe weather events, big overseas outages and fossil fuel issues; Australia's electric election offers a glimpse at what next year might look like in New Zealand; US students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute need your help to improve their electrification dashboard; a new 'radically affordable' and 'radically personalisable' EV ute (and its unhinged ad) is launched in the US; and what needs to change so we can re-use big EV batteries in other ways.