Communities

The grassroots electrification movement will be crucial to Rewiring Aotearoa's success. And we want to give more individuals and communities the resources to build electrification drives in their own communities. 

Rewiring Aotearoa's goal is to electrify ten million fossil fuel machines by 2030 - from the weed eaters and the whipper snippers to the cars and the water heaters. It’s one of the only ways we will be able to reach our emissions reduction targets and that’s why we’re pushing the decision makers and regulators to make changes that incentivise uptake of electric machines, solar and batteries. 

We’re also educating households, businesses and farms about the many economic and environmental benefits that come from swapping to electric machines. 

While many New Zealanders want to install solar and begin their household electrification journey, a key barrier is not knowing where to start and find trustworthy advice. Local community groups can help drive awareness and uptake of electrification, bring the local council to the table to support electrification and show central government it is broadly popular across different demographics.
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We can provide some resources and guidance for these groups, but we need more people from across the motu to provide the passion so we can build a national electrification movement from the bottom up.

So plug yourself in and let’s make New Zealand more electric!

Search for your local group

If you want to start a new group, add your support to an existing group, or you’re an existing group that wants to jump on the electrification bandwagon, check out the groups on the map or get in touch with us. 

For the people, by the people

When a household electrifies, they open up a range of financial, health and environmental benefits. When a community electrifies, that impact can be exponential: lower emissions, cleaner air, a supported local economy and more collective power.
Read more about how electrification is about much more than just reducing emissions here
Rewiring Aotearoa wants to harness the strength of community-led action and connect new or existing community and environmental groups across the country to run effective electrification campaigns in their community. By working together, we can share ideas, resources and energy to increase each community’s capacity and impact.

Why?

Around 30% of New Zealand’s domestic emissions come from small fossil fuel machines in our homes, most of which could be replaced with electric equivalents right now. One of the only ways we will meet our emissions targets is to rapidly replace the fossil fuel machines that sit in homes, driveways and businesses with efficient, electric versions powered by renewable energy from the national grid and from rooftop solar and batteries. Electrifying your home and transport is likely to bring down your cost of living, and will probably have a bigger impact on your emissions than any other decision you make. We want more people to be equipped with this information so their next purchasing decision is electric and we don’t lock in years or decades of fossil fuel emissions and high energy prices.

These purchasing decisions take place around dinner tables and boardroom tables and can be positively influenced and supported by trusted sources within the community. Electrification is sometimes easier said than done, however, and can be complicated for those without much knowledge. Community members can play a critical role smoothing out that process, providing information and assistance and helping to make New Zealand one of the world’s most electric economies.

How much could members of your community be saving? Download this summary to see the numbers and find out how to make it happen with our Electrification Guides. We'll be adding more helpful resources soon.

How?

Rewiring Aotearoa is connecting with local groups to ensure we can all benefit from sharing, collaborating and connecting through: 

  • Access to an online space for groups to collaborate and share news and ideas.
  • Sharing Rewiring Aotearoa’s resources such as flyers, event banners, graphs and illustrations and logo templates, including customisable resources to ensure localised content can be included. 
  • Online workshops and face-to-face events to build collective knowledge and identify collaboration opportunities.
  • Creating a community group newsletter.
  • Joint advocacy and collaborative activities.
  • We can provide materials and connections for you to get started. And we may even be able to provide a small amount of funding or a guest speaker to kick things off or run a special event. Get in touch to see if we can help.

What will the community groups be doing?

Every household is different, as is every community, but there are three main areas of focus:

1) Support communities to electrify

2) Create smart energy users

3) Advocate for community assets and political action

We want our community groups to find out what is most needed by their residents and then find a way to provide it. Some of the things groups are doing include:

  • Community surveys and resources
  • Induction cooking demonstrations
  • Speaker events, educational workshops and information sessions
  • Electric vehicle test drives and open days
  • In-home advisory services or business partnerships with installers
  • Working with councils for infrastructure such as solar on community buildings and EV charging
  • Working with councils to incentivise electrification in new buildings or help them create information campaigns for residents
  • Bulk buys of solar panels and heat pumps
  • Electrification expos and trade shows
  • Engagement with local media (including regular columns)

Support us

Your donations help our team keep the momentum of rapidly electrifying Aotearoa New Zealand within our key focus areas of community, government and industry.

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