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This consultation is a key input into unlocking some benefits that will speed up the adoption of solar and batteries, increase system sizes, and help create the lowest possible cost energy system for Aotearoa New Zealand. We believe that many of the proposals are positive steps and have recognised the technological and economic shifts that are happening in energy, but there is still some bias against investments made by homes and farms towards investments made by networks and energy companies. Whether you've got five minutes or a few hours, your submission can have a real impact on the final decisions and ensure the playing field is made level. Here's how to make your voice heard.
The Energy Competition Task Force (the Task Force), jointly established by the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko and the Commerce Commission Te Komihana Tauhokohoko, has a programme of work underway taking action to strengthen the performance of the electricity market in the short to medium-term, for the benefit of all consumers.
We at Rewiring Aotearoa are excited at the potential for real action that benefits consumers, but this outcome is not assured!
The Task Force is currently consulting on a range of proposals that seek to empower electricity consumers to take better control of their own energy bills. What the Task Force decides to do will play a critical role in the next five to ten years in driving household-level decisions on energy production, use and storage.
There are significant issues with some of the Task Force’s “proposed solutions”, and we would appreciate your help in convincing the Task Force to be more ambitious.
They have three sets of proposals:
There is a helpful and understandable “Overview for consumers” of proposals on the Electricity Authority’s website.
This guide explains Rewiring Aotearoa’s high level response to the Task Force’s proposals and helps everyday Kiwis, innovators and other groups have their say, with a focus on getting the best possible outcome for all consumers.
We are working on our own submission that will be going deep into the weeds of energy geekdom, especially on initiative 2A. We will release this on our website as soon as it is done. The more submissions that back up the general thrust of our submission and the more personal stories that are received, the more likely we all are to have a positive impact.
The consultation also provides an opportunity to highlight other roadblocks you have experienced that are relevant to the consultation’s aim of better empowering consumers to manage costs, consumption and investment decisions. The Electricity Authority is also working to help innovators who are coming up with new ways to harness technology and developing solutions to some of the challenges in the system. Give them an email on innovate@ea.govt.nz and check out their Power Innovation Pathway to learn more.
It is in the interest of all consumers that more households, farms and businesses install solar and batteries and that they maximise the size of those installs. The more solar generation, the more water can be kept in our hydro lakes (and in turn less gas and coal needs to be burned); the more batteries, the less we will need to invest in poles and wires to deal with our peaks (currently forecast to be tens of billions a decade and the main component of bill increases in coming years); the more EVs charged by solar, the less fossil fuels there will be in the wider energy system (and more batteries on wheels that could power our homes and feed into the grid).
A lot of a little is a lot and Rewiring Aotearoa's research suggests that if a 9kW solar system (or approximately 20 panels) was added to 80% of New Zealand’s two million homes the combined generation would add 40% more electricity than today. It would also massively cut the energy bills of all those homes.
If the approximately 50,000 farms in New Zealand did as we did and added rooftop and groundmount solar, that would be another 60%. The Government’s aim is to double the supply of renewable electricity and it could reach that goal largely by focusing on existing rooftops and unproductive land.
Like highways, we build our electricity system to handle the peaks, but batteries - either on the wall or, in the future, in your driveway - basically remove your home from peak, and exporting removes your neighbours from peak.
Just 120,000 homes (or around five percent of households in New Zealand) with a medium-sized battery could potentially reduce the peak load as much as New Zealand’s largest hydro power station, Manapouri, but only for a few hours when we really need it. These batteries would have enough energy to cover our winter spikes in demand and recharge during off peak times. More batteries in homes and on farms can collectively shave billions of dollars off spending on poles and wires over the coming decades; billions that all consumers would need to fund.
All the electric vehicles in the country will eventually be one of New Zealand’s biggest batteries. Vehicle-to-load or vehicle-to-grid, which requires bi-directional charging, recently got through the first major regulatory hurdle in Australia and many modern EVs include this feature, so this future may not be too far away.
There are still barriers in the way and some of the changes proposed aim to address them. This consultation is a key input into unlocking some benefits that will speed up adoption and help create the lowest possible cost energy system for Aotearoa New Zealand. We believe that many of the proposals are positive steps and have recognised the technological and economic shifts that are happening in energy, but there is still some bias against investments made by homes and farms towards investments made by networks and energy companies. Your submission can have a real impact on the final decisions and ensure the playing field is made level.
We know that these economic signals are important and the potential financial benefits customers can get by being part of the market do influence adoption rates and system size.
Copy and paste these bullets and email them to taskforce@ea.govt.nz with ‘Energy Competition Task Force initiatives 2A, 2B and 2C’ in the Subject Line by 5pm Wednesday 26 March 2025:
Send a quick email submission.
Copy the email template below into a Word document and fill in the blanks.
Be aware all submissions by default will be published (though you are welcome to indicate what part of your submission shouldn’t be published and why), and that there is an opportunity for cross-submissions (commenting on other submitter’s points) by 5pm Wednesday 9 April 2025.
Share this guide with your friends and ask them to follow your lead.
Same instructions as above, but add the personal touch to the ideas in the email template. The more personalised you make your submission, the more effective it will be. Connecting it to personal stories of the difference these changes will make to you (or would have made when you were making decisions on solar and/or batteries) are most effective. Even if only partly formed thoughts, your reflections on the impact on actual decision-making are incredibly valuable.
What can you do?
You do not need to answer every question the EA asks across the documents, and you don't need to read the dozens of pages (although of course you're welcome to!). What will be most valuable for the Energy Competition Taskforce is your own experience and thoughts.
In particular, why do you think these changes are important? What have (or would) your household considerations be when installing a solar system and/or home batteries? Would those decisions be different if there were stronger economic signals to export energy or shift usage? And are there examples you can see of an unfair playing field or unnecessary red tape that increases costs for households, farms or businesses?
For example, if you were expecting to get on average 2-3 times as much for a unit of power exported, would you seek/have sought to install a larger system because the payback period would have been reduced? If export limits were more than 5kw, would you install a bigger system? If you were able to access plans where power cost more at peak, but a lot less outside of peak, would you have bought a battery (or a larger battery)? Has new technology like solar, batteries and EVs or economic incentives like time of use plans changed your behaviour when it comes to energy use and export? Feel free to get specific.
If you want to add some other examples of this technology in action and the impact these changes could have, here are two case studies you can pull from: one from a homeowner in Wellington and the other from Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey.
A three person household in Wellington installed 6.8Kw of solar panels, a 6kW inverter, and a Powerwall 2 13.5kWh battery just over a year ago. The dad is an energy nerd who very actively investigated retail offerings and went with the only option we are aware of that includes Time of Use pricing paired with buy-back rates that match the rolling wholesale price every 30 minutes. This plan includes many of the features we expect to become more common once the Task Force implements the changes of this consultation.
By being on this plan rather than a more common plan, they received an average export price over 12 months of 25.42c (versus 8-17.5c from most retailers per the Powerswitch site) for the 2,700kWh they exported. This amounts to $686.34 instead of $216-472.50, an extra $213-470 off energy bills per year. Rewiring Aotearoa’s preferred action for initiative 2A would add (based on some assumptions) an additional $550 or so of savings a year.
While all this may not sound huge, taken together over 30 years (and not factoring in very likely power price increases) it adds up to $23,000-$30,500 ($6,500-$14,000 from likely changes due to our recommended approach to 2C, and another $16,500 from 2A, which is plenty alone to replace the battery when needed). With a majority of this unlocked by batteries, getting these changes correct will have a big influence on what households decide to install. It provides a clear investment signal, which historically the industry has thought are important for large corporations, but seemingly not everyday New Zealanders, who deserve the same clear investment signals.
This isn't even the main benefit they get from their system, as they also benefit hugely from the cheap power they produce and consume themselves. And peace of mind of keeping the lights on in an outage.
Forest Lodge Orchard near Cromwell produces over 80% of the electricity it needs to run its 21 electric machines via rooftop and ground mount solar. It stores a lot of that electricity in batteries, so while its electricity consumption has increased by over 900% compared to the previous farmer after electrifying all its machines, it doesn’t use any more electricity at peak times so hasn't required any upgrades to the poles and wires.
As well as saving around $40,000 per year on diesel, it is paid to export during congestion times and can power roughly 25 neighbouring homes, making the farm an additional $20,000 per year - and making it a net positive for the energy system. It is only thanks to a unique arrangement that fairly rewards Forest Lodge Orchard for their contributions back into the grid that the Orchard has been incentivised to install the additional batteries. Every home, farm and business should have access to fairer rewards like these for their contributions.
There is also nothing stopping EDBs and retailers from implementing most of these changes now. So feel free to send your submission to them as well.
Bonus points: share that you’ve made a submission and why this topic matters to you on social media.
Get stuck into the 150 or so pages of the two main documents and answer the 31 specific questions posed! Feel free to share where you get to with us as it will likely help us finalise our submission!
My name is [NAME], and I’m a [age/job/gender/parental status/whatever you identify with] from [location]. I, like many others, am excited by the potential of better empowering consumers who are fundamentally reshaping our energy future. While these proposals are a step in the right direction, key changes will ensure individuals make decisions that lead to Aotearoa New Zealand building out the cheapest yet most resilient energy system possible.
[Feel free to add personal thoughts here about why this is important to you.]
I agree with the stated aim of providing consumers with more options, and that flexible distribution generation can help drive down costs for everyone into the future.
I also agree with the high-level problems identified:
I agree with the proposal to require large retailers to offer Time of Use plans as this empowers consumers to take better control of their impact on the electricity system and their own bills (2B).
[If you have any personal experience with Time of Use plans changing your energy usage, please describe this as it will likely strengthen the rationale for this proposed requirement. ]
However, I do not agree that the Task Force’s proposed solutions for 2A and 2C will address the problems and achieve what is required.
I agree with the addition of a new rule to “make sure power companies pay people who sell power to the network” (2C) and but that to do this the rule needs to to be explicitly extended beyond just “peak times” and into:
I agree that retailers should be required to pass through benefits to consumers from distributors paying a rebate for supply at peak times.
I support the addition of a requirement in the Code for distributors to pay a rebate when consumers supply electricity at peak times (2A). While I strongly support the objective of the proposed amendment, I do not support the proposed solution of principles-based rebates.
Principles-based rebates would likely provide too much flexibility, be difficult to monitor and enforce, and not achieve the desired result. The benefits of this proposed solution are unlikely to outweigh the costs.
Instead, I support the alternative option of consumption-linked injection tariffs (with adequate safety valves to ensure too much power does not flow back in). This would fairly apply similar pricing to both consumption and injection during peak times. I support this being a perfectly symmetrical export tariff, and not differential as suggested. This would also strongly encourage distributors to improve their consumption tariffs. As a consumer, a symmetrical tariff is far easier to understand, and a more fair way to price electricity, where my electricity is treated just as valuable as an energy company's energy export or reduction.
These rebates should be apply to larger consumers and generators as well as mass-market consumers, as ensuring all are appropriately incentivised will lead to the lowest-cost possible distribution system for all consumers in the long-term.
[If you have thoughts on how you have or would consider investing in a battery and the impact getting a more fair price for injecting at peak periods would make on these decisions, feel free to add those thoughts here.]
Additional comment
A strong monitoring and reporting regime to ensure compliance and provide valuable insights is critical across all changes. Complementary Code changes should be undertaken to ease the process of solar and battery installation and upgrades for consumers, and enable them to maximise the size of their contribution to the system.
There are a huge amount of relevant consultations and changes underway in the energy system at the moment. These include:
Rewiring Aotearoa is a non-partisan non-profit organisation that believes electrification has major economic, social, climate and environmental benefits. We represent everyday New Zealanders in the energy system and advocate for an equitable energy transition that does not leave anyone behind. Our mission is to rapidly reduce New Zealand’s emissions, improve cost-of-living outcomes, and increase energy security and resilience by electrifying the millions of fossil fuel machines in our homes, communities, businesses and on-farm.
Thank you.
Beauden Barrett's star power is put to use to get more New Zealanders into solar power; it's election season in Aus and it's a 'battle of the band aids' in comparison to incentivising more electric homes and cars; in Tairāwhiti, a major project is underway to install solar on 21 marae; how the story of New Zealand electricity pioneer Lloyd Mandeno illustrates what we can do if we get smart with our electricity use; and a global series on energy focuses on the taonga of Contact Energy's geothermal resources.
Read moreDownloadA Federated Farmers’ survey of 1,000 farmers showed that 70% of respondents would consider installing solar panels and the enthusiasm was evenly spread across different age groups, genders and farm types. The economic drivers are clear and farms can significantly reduce their electricity costs with solar (and, if they invest in electric machines, their diesel costs), but there are plenty of unnecessary barriers stopping them from saving money, reducing emissions and playing a role in the energy system. We’ve pulled together a document that talks about the massive opportunity rural electrification offers, outlines the issues farmers are facing and what the decision makers need to do to make it easier.
Read moreDownloadRewiring Aotearoa is working to speed up the transition to an ‘electrified’ future, with work showing that upgrading fossil fuel machines to electric equivalents can save New Zealanders money on their energy bills, decrease emissions and give communities the resilience to keep their lights on and homes warm. ASB and Rewiring Aotearoa partnered up in 2023 and conducted research to identify barriers to households and farms going electric, undertook thorough literature review and considered potential finance solutions to address these barriers. This report covers some of the high-level themes uncovered during that process.
Read moreDownloadThis consultation is a key input into unlocking some benefits that will speed up the adoption of solar and batteries, increase system sizes, and help create the lowest possible cost energy system for Aotearoa New Zealand. We believe that many of the proposals are positive steps and have recognised the technological and economic shifts that are happening in energy, but there is still some bias against investments made by homes and farms towards investments made by networks and energy companies. Whether you've got five minutes or a few hours, your submission can have a real impact on the final decisions and ensure the playing field is made level. Here's how to make your voice heard.
Read moreDownloadInspired by successful electrification expos run in the Wairarapa, Queenstown and Australia, new community-led group Electrify the Hutt has committed to running its own expo later in 2025 to educate and inspire their community about the significant economic and environmental benefits of electric machines running on clean electricity.
Read moreDownloadMore exciting news about big batteries with free wheels (aka electric vehicles) from Australia; BYD's breakthrough sees EVs charging up in about the same time as it takes to fill a petrol car; boat charging comes to Queenstown; New Zealand's solar record (and the world's insatiable desire to run on the sun); and Bluecurrent and Meridian partner up to reward customers who hand over control of their hot water.
Read moreDownloadCommunity-led group Electrify Waiheke has set its sights on becoming the country’s first all-electric island by upgrading thousands of fossil fuel machines in homes, businesses, farms and public facilities to electric equivalents.
Read moreDownloadOn Newstalk ZB, Energy Resources Aotearoa chief executive John Carnegie spoke with Mike Hosking about the need for coal and gas to provide enough electricity in what looks like another dry year. But there is another option.
RNZ's Eloise Gibson outlined how Clarus removed an ad that said 'renewable gas was now flowing' following complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority about misleading consumers. The issue was that the renewable gas was being blended with fossil gas and only made up a small fraction of the total. The bigger issue is that it's even more expensive than fossil gas (which is already more expensive than electric equivalents) and there's not enough of it to meet demand.
Read moreDownloadWe're raising the roof on 'solar appreciation day' as Alpine Energy grows connections by 25% in a year and the country as a whole is close behind; a new paper in Nature shows that rooftop solar, long seen as a niche solution, could be the best way to reduce fossil fuel reliance; New Zealand is singled out as an early adopter of much more efficient industrial heat pumps; Toyota finally steps up its electric game with an upgrades to its existing BEV and two new models; and an optimistic take on the world's response to climate change.
Read moreDownloadAt Forest Lodge Orchard, the world’s first fully electric cherry farm, Mike Casey swapped fossil fuels for electric machinery—cutting costs and boosting efficiency. In this session, he shares practical, game-changing strategies that make sustainability and profitability work together.
Read moreDownloadTranspower tries to give New Zealanders a lightbulb moment with its explainer campaign (and a documentary series goes back to the start); celebrity chef Tom Shepherd cooks up some big cost savings with a more efficient commercial kitchen; Mike Taylor from Pie Funds lays out an electric argument that would help fix our balance of trade; Vessev gets some competition in Auckland with the arrival of the Candela P-12 electric hydrofoiling ferry (which Meridian has ordered for Manapouri); and a review of Australia's fastest home EV charger and its bi-directional-enabled capability.
Read moreDownloadAfter surveying almost 100 New Zealanders about their solar and battery installs, Mysolarquotes recently released 'The Hidden Costs of Solar and Battery Systems in New Zealand: 2024 Insights' report. And it's good news for customers looking to go big.
Read moreDownloadOne of Rewiring's key objectives for 2025 is to grow the number of community electrification groups. And Jay Salzke, who started as ecosystem lead late last year, has been travelling the country to help spark them up.
Read moreDownloadThere’s been an understandable focus on the price of electricity recently, with fears we may be in for a repeat of the wholesale debacle of 2024 as our hydro lake levels remain low. The Energy Competition Taskforce made another announcement about levelling the playing field for independent retailers and removing preferential pricing for the gentailers’ retail arms. Just like the previous announcement that talked about moves to level the playing field for customers with solar and batteries, this is another positive step towards a fairer system, but it’s not guaranteed to bring electricity prices down, as Mike Casey told Andrew Dickens on Newstalk ZB.
As the focus remains on rising electricity costs in New Zealand, solar and storage continues to drop in price and is set to become the cheapest source of energy around the world in the next few years; an Auckland man's quest to create the world's first electric helicopter; the efficiency of electric flight and the pitfalls of predictions; an electric road in Sweden that could wirelessly charge EVs; solid state batteries take to the streets and look set to increase range; and why going electric was better than offsetting because it led to actual emissions reductions for WoolWorks and Sawmill.
Read moreDownloadRewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey writes in Newsroom (paywall) that the low hydro lake levels are putting us at risk of another energy crunch in 2025, but more solar on our homes, farms and businesses would help bolster our energy security. As he says: "Solar is an energy source that is proven to perform better in dry years, ranks as the cheapest form of energy ever developed by humans and can help bring the cost of electricity down for everyone. When the leaves start dropping next year, I hope Min. Watts isn’t quite as concerned about lake levels or long-term forecasts because he can bask in the sunshine and know that he has helped more New Zealand homes, farms and businesses generate cheap electricity from the big nuclear fusion reactor in the sky. The future is bright."
Read moreDownloadAhead of an SBN Masterclass event in March, Rewiring Aotearoa's Mike Casey offers his top tips about communicating sustainability effectively, adding to advice from John Berry, Gabrielle Pritchard, Albert Bifet and Laura Cibilich.
Read moreDownloadFollowing on from the coverage of all-electric Forest Lodge Orchard, Fully Charged's host Robert Llewellyn takes to the water and speaks with Vessev CEO Erik Laakman about the effiency gains and emissions reductions offered by the world's first commercial electric hydrofoiling boat.
Read moreDownloadIt's a two-way street this week as energy minister makes positive noises about 'big batteries on wheels' playing a role in the energy system (and Zaptec smart chargers aim very high with a new campaign), Fed-Ex rolls out a few more electric delivery vans and wonders why everyone else isn't doing it, the story behind New Zealand's first electric coffee roastery in Queenstown, Christchurch Airport also claims a first with an electric firetruck, and Nat Bullard shows what's going on with the climate and where we're getting our energy from.
Read moreDownloadRNZ's Kathryn Ryan talked to Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey and Electricity Networks Aotearoa's Tracey Kai about the changes proposed by the Energy Competition Taskforce and how they will improve the already impressive return on investment for solar and batteries. As Casey said, the most important thing to remember is that the biggest benefits to households come from using solar as it is the cheapest form of delivered electricity available to New Zealand homes and those with electric machines and cars can save thousands each year on their energy bills. Exporting excess energy is generally a cherry on top and the proposed changes to reward peak export might only represent a small increase for households, but they may be significant for farmers or businesses with more space. More solar and batteries also helps to bring down the cost for everyone on the network, reduces the need for expensive pole and wire upgrades, which are paid for on customers' bills and can also help create more security of supply by keeping water in the dams.
A love letter to electrification this week as a kea soars high on solar, more electric buses for Auckland (and more Rivian vans for businesses), longer lasting EV batteries, more solar on smart schools, an open letter to the Australian Government asking for 'Real Zero' not net zero, and the world's first electric snowbike.
Read moreDownloadAs Rewiring Aotearoa’s Electric Homes research has shown, New Zealand has already reached the electrification tipping point, so going electric and running your home and car with a combination of grid electricity and rooftop solar and batteries is already a good economic decision for most homes (and likely the best thing they can do to reduce emissions). But, as Newsroom's Marc Daalder writes about the Energy Competition Taskforce proposals (paywalled), "proposed changes to the electricity market could see Kiwis paid more for the solar power they export to the grid, and less when drawing from the grid at off-peak times".
Read moreDownload"I firmly believe electricity is the next crop for farmers in New Zealand, and the more farmers that get involved in this, the better the returns for farmers are going to be ... My big dream is that farmers start powering New Zealand. That would be really cool." Seven Sharp ventured to Cromwell recently and Rachel Parkin put together a beautiful story about the all-electric Forest Lodge Orchard. The team has proven that it's possible to grow cherries without burning any diesel on the farm - 'not a single drop,' as manager Euan White says - and that farmers can play a role in the energy system by generating, using, storing and exporting their own electricity. At the moment, many homes, farms and businesses are reliant on expensive molecules sent to us from the other side of the world. Fossil fuels have taken us a long way, but there is a better and cheaper option: locally-produced electrons. That's good for businesses, and good for the country as a whole. Watch the show on TVNZ+ (skip to 4 mins).
Fully Charged, which has a large global reach and claims to be the world's number one home energy and electric vehicle channel, came to visit Mike Casey at the all-electric Forest Lodge recently. As host Robert Llewellyn (who Red Dwarf fans may recognise) says: "I think this is a shining example of what can be done today and what should be be done, particularly for countries like New Zealand that have to import their fossil fuels from a long, long way away".
Read moreDownloadRNZ's Susan Edmunds reports on the Energy Competition Taskforce proposals and says the changes "should lead to New Zealanders with solar power systems on their houses get more of a return for any power they put back into the system". As Electricity Authority chair Anna Kominik says: "New Zealand's electricity market currently relies on a few big generators to supply electricity at select locations and transmit it to households and businesses across the country. But as uptake of solar and battery systems continues to increase, more consumers will be able to contribute to our electricity system. And as smart electronics and vehicles become more ubiquitous, consumers will also be able to more actively manage their own energy use and costs. We're proposing three changes to help support this consumer empowerment and decentralisation of our energy system. Over time, this will increase community resilience and lower power costs for everyone," she said.
Read moreDownloadHomeowners with solar panels and batteries installed could be paid more to sell electricity back to the grid, reports TVNZ's Jessica Roden following the release of the Energy Competition Taskforce proposals. As Nelson solar installer Jon Pirie says in the piece, perfectly illustrating the 'neighbourhood effect', "year over year, people are more interested. They see the power bills going down and next thing the neighbours have got solar." Mike Casey also appears in the story saying anything we can do to incentivise customers to install their own generation and storage will help create the cheapest energy system.
Rewiring Aotearoa's response to the Energy Competition Taskforce: a pat on the back for recognising the shift and focusing on the role customers are playing - and will play - in the energy system, but just a light pat because more could be done to ensure the proposals are followed through on.
Read moreDownloadWe're definitely not running on fumes this week ... Why our electric future - from e-bikes to e-boats - looks both fun and functional, why swapping fuel for finance is crucial for homeowners (and access to capital is crucial for businesses like Chargenet that are helping to speed up the transition), how renewable energy projects are helping developing countries and low-income communities, and an ad from 1929 that reminds us of something.
Read moreDownloadStuff's Kylie Klein Nixon showcases the many benefits of Carl Hamlin's electric new build, which includes a hot water heat pump and solar panels. As the story says: "Water heating comprises about 1/3 of a household’s energy use, [EECA's Gareth] Gretton says. Hot water systems have a 15-year life expectancy, and 46% of hot water systems in New Zealand are over 10 years old. When we do replace old hot water systems, there is a tendency to replace like-for-like." Gas is the most expensive, hot water heat pumps have the lowest running costs and you're likely to make the most savings by electrifying your vehicle. If you want to save cash and slash emissions, your next purchasing decision should be electric.
Read moreDownloadThe most important energy cost is not what a corporation pays to produce or generate it, but what a consumer pays to buy it. That’s why Mike Casey argues the delivered cost of rooftop solar and batteries – and the other benefits these technologies provide to the system – need to be factored in when making investment decisions.
Read moreDownloadNew suburb-wide electrification pilot projects set to kick off in Australia, Fonterra's electrification plan to upgrade its boilers and trial EV tankers, Napier EV charging business Kwetta eyes up global expansion, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi talks about the massive rise of electric taxis, the German balcony solar movement spreads into Spain, and what if fossil fuel cars were the new technology?
Read moreDownloadThe Post's Alka Prasad has gone deep into how farmers are electrifying their operations, installing solar and batteries to alleviate concerns about dry years, and reducing their energy costs. As Maniototo farmer and owner of Solayer Becks Smith says in the story: "It's not an either-or situation from hydro-generated electricity to solar-generated electricity. It's about having a renewable electricity grid and shifting as far from fossil-fuel energy as we can,” she says. “For business resilience, the energy you can generate and use yourself is the cheapest energy you'll ever get." Rewiring Aotearoa CEO and electric orchardist Mike Casey says "farmers could have a huge positive influence on New Zealand's electricity system by generating power themselves and putting it into the grid for everybody else to be able to heat their homes, heat their water and charge their electric vehicles". "We can treat our hydropower scheme more like a battery which could power our homes and businesses at night time and solar can do a lot of the grunt work during the day,” he adds.
Read moreDownloadSome big switch energy this week as solar panels go vertical on farms (and on fences), induction disappears in fancy kitchens and celebrity chefs move towards the magnets, Counties Energy pushes a vision of the future that we can get behind, Bunnings spots a trend and launches a new range of EV charging products, and a brilliant game created to annoy asset managers investing in fossil fuels.
Read moreDownloadWriting in Newsroom, Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey looks at what's holding New Zealanders back from buying EVs despite the many benefits and why this technological shift is inevitable. "Incumbents always try to cling on, but the horse and cart is now a novelty, as is the landline, the fax machine and the Blackberry. These technologies served us well at the time, but they have been usurped and my prediction is that petrol and diesel vehicles are next."
Read moreDownloadIn need of some good climate news? Writing in the NZ Herald, Simon Wilson has compiled a list of New Zealand entrepreneurs and innovators, including Rewiring Aotearoa CEO and 'electric orchardist' Mike Casey, who are pushing things in a more positive direction. We need action across the board if we have any hope of reaching our climate targets, but energy is one area where positivity is warranted because the costs of renewables and electric machines continue to drop. At Rewiring Aotearoa we believe electrifying our homes, vehicles, farms and businesses will save us all money and help us address climate change. So let's embrace that win-win.
Read moreDownloadMike Casey talks to Jamie McKay on The Country about the current cherry market, what's happening with EVs, why investing in solar can help reduce energy farmers' costs and his plans for 2025.
New research from Rewiring America explores homeowner awareness and motivations for making the switch from fossil fuels to electric - and offer some helpful guidance for anyone looking to convince New Zealand homeowners to go electric.
Read moreDownloadWe're getting high on electrons this week as aviation goes electric in New Zealand and around the world, the rise of the anti Elon Tesla Club, how Toyota could be the next Kodak after ignoring the rise of EVs, inside the struggle of a family-owned oil company and more marae add solar and batteries to prepare for emergencies.
Read moreDownloadRewiring Aotearoa's Mike Casey joined Schneider Electric's Diana Ruiz Díaz to discuss the economic benefits of electric vehicles, smart residential charging and the essential role electricians will play in New Zealand's energy transition
Read moreDownload2025 is off to an electric start, as BYD announces a big price drop for some models in Australia (and the country hits record EV sales in 2024), Kia goes electric for the Australian Open , Rafa does some electric surfing, and Mike Casey tows tonnes of electric cherries with his EV9, new research from Massey and Lincoln looks at the win-win of combining solar panels and agriculture, and why pay for an expensive, unpredictable fossil fuel subscription when you could lock in the savings (and emissions reductions) of going electric.
Read moreDownloadCasey's work demonstrating how electric technology that is available today can lead to more profitable businesses and his electrification advocacy work as CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa has earned him another title, this time the Otago Daily Times business leader of the year.
Read moreDownloadCharge your glasses for the last Electic Avenue of the year, with research from Australia showing areas with higher unemployment rates are more likely to seek out the cost savings and bill certainty of solar, residents of Thames protesting about high petrol prices are reminded that electricity is the cheapest fuel and rooftop solar is the cheapest electricity, the first Windrose electric truck has landed in New Zealand and the efficiency of electricity smashes the other options, why tradies will be the heroes of the energy transition (and have a big role to play in terms of recommendations) and a clever induction stove that doesn't require any wiring changes.
Read moreDownloadAs we conclude another rotation around that free nuclear fusion reactor in the sky, we’re looking back on a big year for Rewiring Aotearoa - and looking forward to New Zealand’s inevitable transition to electric machines powered by renewable energy.
Read moreDownloadFocusing 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.
Read moreDownloadRewiring 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.
Read moreDownloadUsing heatpumps instead of fossil fuels is shown to save lives and money, Powerco's plea to its gas customers that they avoid reality, Paddy Gower visits a zero energy bills home, EV charging sees the light and takes to the streets, and the Popemobile plugs in.
Read moreDownloadRewiring 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.
Read moreDownloadFollowing the release of the Second Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP2), Rewiring Aotearoa is pleased the country is likely to meet its emissions budgets, but believes there is more the Government could do to help households, businesses and farms slash their fossil fuel consumption and contribute to the reductions required, and no need to rely on unproven technology or a few more decades of gas for electricity generation.
Read moreDownloadPaddy Gower recently paid Forest Lodge a visit on his national tour and Mike Casey was featured as The Brainy Kiwi. Casey explains the problem he's trying to solve and why he believes generating your own energy and using it at the source is a much better and more efficient way to run our homes and businesses. Watch from 18m40s.
Read moreDownloadThe New Zealand Herald's Chris Keall (paywalled) has gone deep on the SolarZero collapse and, while there are still questions being asked about the public investment, Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says it was a business model failure and, just as Kodak didn't define the camera industry, this shouldn't define a sector or dent confidence in the technology. Energy Minister Simeon Brown also talked about a number of positive changes that will make it cheaper and easier to install rooftop solar.
Read moreDownloadRNZ Afternoons host Jesse Mulligan interviewed Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey about how the new household electrification calculator can help New Zealanders get off gas and petrol, how the finances stack up, and why SolarZero is a business model failure that has nothing to do with solar technology.
Lots of electric gifts under the tree this week as batteries keep getting cheaper, hydrogen still not the solution for light transport, cutting carbon with electric lawnmowers, how electric wallpaper can help get homes off gas, and solar powered hats, candy floss, festivals and maybe even movies.
Read moreDownloadIn the wake of the Solar Zero liquidation, Lightforce Solar managing director John Harman and SEANZ chief executive Brendan Winitana speak to RNZ's Kathryn Ryan about the regulatory changes required to level the playing field for solar and battery owners (like fair rates for exporting at peak periods and export rates that are closer to the wholesale price) and the need for a more modern two-way grid.
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.
Read moreDownloadThe 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.
Read moreDownloadRewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey is intereviewed by Checkpoint's Lisa Owen about the SolarZero saga and says solar remains the future, but owning your panels rather than renting them is the way to deliver the biggest savings.
The electric bandwagon is speeding up, as EECA launches a clever cost-saving campaign showcasing the benefits of electric homes, Octopus opens the doors of New Zealand's first zero energy bills home this weekend, the silent solar revolution is spreading through the developed world, a glorious graph that shows energy economics winning over politics, Ford's new EV ute shows its towing prowess, and Mike Casey embraces his inner electric bogan.
Read moreDownloadAs domestic gas supplies dwindle, homes are at risk of exponential cost rises and loss of supply. Financing electric upgrades is the best way to avoid a chaotic transition and is especially important for low-income households.
Read moreDownloadA big week in the long-running battle to turn EVs into batteries on wheels, researchers prove that using cheap solar during the day to heat the water is a good idea for customers and the grid, a solar map of New Zealand that offers lot more detail, tiny turbines (and tiny homes inside massive turbines) and a flood resistant EV.
Read moreDownloadWairarapa is the place to be this week, writes Rewiring Aotearoa's ecosystem lead Jay Salzke. The Electrify Wairarapa Conference and Expo is kicking off in Masterton on the 22nd-23rd November and anyone interested in learning more about the massive electrification opportunity in front of local businesses, farms, vineyards, orchards, schools, community centres and homes across the region should be there.
Read moreDownloadWe're sparking joy this week with Saul Griffith's electric solar powered scooter, Australia and Texas hit major solar milestones, Coldplay creates a truly electric atmosphere, Mike Hosking's EV queries answered with a graph, Kia's new concept car, and Counties Energy teaches kids about solar by taking the grand prix to school.
Read moreDownloadA bumper crop of electric goodies this week, with Douglas Park school in Wairarapa impressing with its solar, a rare bright spot for the climate as the world continues to run on the sun, UC researchers get funding to push perovskite, the world's most sustainable snowmobile, an EV expo in Christchurch and a true electric tinkerer.
Read moreDownloadNew Zealand's emissions have fallen for the past three years. That's positive, but Rohan MacMahon, a Partner and Co-founder of the Climate Venture Capital Fund, believes we need to push harder and fully embrace electrification.
Read moreDownloadWe're in the business of changing perspectives at Rewiring Aotearoa and this week's Electric Avenue is a doozy, with Octopus Energy showing that customers will change their behaviour if there's money to be made, Australian coal miners drive a Tesla and have their minds blown/changed, an engine lover's break up letter with diesel boats after experiencing Vessev's VS-9, the IEA's latest report offers a revealing comparison, the story of the 'genius solar plane that can fly forever', Rainn Wilson pleads with the powers that be to heed his warnings, and ad network Ogilvy gets a fossil fuel flogging.
Read moreDownloadA groundbreaking pilot to electrify 500 homes in the Illawarra region of NSW was announced in Australia recently after a two-year campaign led by the local community.
Read moreDownloadPut your tongue on that battery, folks, because there's a groundbreaking pilot project in Australia that offers a glimpse at an electric future, a Wairarapa marae with solar and batteries is helping improve resilience after emergencies, solar farms are proving resilient to major weather events, fossil fuel gardening gear is getting the chop, golf courses are going electric and there's another beautiful electric caravan to drool over.
Read moreDownloadWe’ve got a focus on the flames in this edition of Electric Avenue, with Dunedin company Escea’s new electric (and holographic) fire, a battery induction stove that’s well-suited to the outdoors, some amazing electric fire trucks, the rise of all-electric stadia, why nuclear might be a good option (if you buy your own reactor) and battery prices drop by more than analysts expected.
Read moreDownloadAfter the announcement of the Government's policy statement on electricity, Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey explains why we need a level playing field for customers, a more efficient electricity system and the smallest possible investment in gas.
Read moreDownloadRNZ's Kathryn Ryan has talked to energy researchers who claim rising demand for electricity in summer (largely due to increasing air conditioning requirements and EVs) will have repercussions on lake levels come next winter. And while Transpower says the risks of an electricity supply shortage this year have eased, next winter's forecast is concerning. Irrigation is also a major user of electricity in summer in some regions. Solar is well-suited to both of these cases as the electricity is usually required during the day when the sun is out, so more solar at home and on our farms can provide a lot of what we need with less strain on the grid and at the lowest cost.
As David Hasselhoff almost sang, jump in my much cheaper and increasingly popular electric car and see why 96% of EV owners would buy a second one; the UK's last coal-fired electricity plant is switched off; the IEA's renewables report makes for good reading; a Rivian takes an unexpected trip down a river; and comedian Tim Robinson gives some helpful advice to climate change communicators.
Read moreDownloadGather round the heat pump, children, as we explore the big benefits of battery recycling, how customers giving up control can help the grid, a radical new plan for electric transport in Queenstown, big trucks, big chargers and big electric ferries, and a look at just what has been captured when it comes to carbon capture.
Read moreDownloadMike Casey learned about the difference between planting carbon-sucking trees and avoiding carbon-emitting diesel when he was setting up his Central Otago cherry orchard. As he writes in The Spinoff, seeing this laid out was something of an 'emissions epiphany' and showed he had good intentions but was focusing on the wrong thing. He believes "many New Zealanders are also focusing on the wrong thing and could do with an emissions epiphany of their own". Electrifying your car, cooktop, water heater and space heater and powering them with renewable energy from rooftop solar, home battery and the grid is likely to have the biggest impact on your emissions tally. And, by comparing these 'dinner table decisions' with return flights between Queenstown and Auckland, the piece shows that substitution is often more effective than sacrifice.
Read moreDownloadIn this week's e-party, gas in homes is dumb and electric homes are not, a simple solution for those who need to charge their EVs on the street, the wooden winds of change are blowing, and more electric tractor news (this time from the 1920s).
Read moreDownloadRewiring Aotearoa's Investing in Tomorrow report shined a light on the multi-billion dollar opportunity in front of New Zealand if we rapidly electrify our homes and cars. Danyl McLauchlan's latest column (paywalled) in The Listener examines what's stopping that opportunity from being realised (hint: incumbent interests and a profitable status quo being protected by industry lobbyists "swarming the Beehive like flies around a dead cat"). As he writes: "Eventually, someone will have to notice tens of billions of dollars lying on the ground, just waiting to be picked up – even if political expedience and ideological dogma are screaming at them to ignore it."
Read moreDownloadDr. Rajeev Shah is the president of the Rockefeller Foundation and, as world leaders gather for the United Nations General Assembly, he argues that nothing matters more to individual well-being than energy, which is what leaders need to focus on. As he writes: "Electrifying the world could produce the largest development gains since the 1990s. Electrification is about more than progress for individuals; it makes the world safer and more secure. High energy prices are straining livelihoods at a moment when coups, migration and unrest are destabilizing regions. And because the countries where energy access is lowest are projected to produce as much as 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, connecting people there to clean energy can help prevent climate catastrophe for us all."
Read moreDownloadIt's all about the batteries in this week's electrification whip around. Big ones, small ones (but not uncomfortable ones), we love them all and an Aussie legend has developed an affordable way to run our homes with our EVs, a US startup is electrifying school buses and using them to help the grid, Lincoln University rolls out a new electric tractor, Meridian's storage solution is set to power 60,000 homes at peak times (and the company is also set to give away $1.2 million for community electrification projects), and global solar installs continue to exceed industry expectations.
Read moreDownloadFarmers stand to save money, make money and reduce emissions by adopting electric technology and powering it with solar and batteries. But, as the story in Farmers Weekly says, one sticking point for farmers is that, at present, they can’t gain the full value from rooftop solar when they have multiple connection points on one farm. Rewiring Aotearoa has called on the Government to make some regulatory changes so t farms with multiple connection points are able to group them together for billing purposes and make the most of their solar generation across the business.
Read moreDownloadMike Casey talks to Ben Chapman-Smith about how Kiwi farmers can get started on their electric journey and move away from diesel-driven machinery, while also outlining a few requests for Minister of Agriculture Todd McClay that would make on-farm solar even more beneficial.
Let's raise the roof! 🏠🌞 Customers with solar and batteries need to be seen as a critical part of our 21st Century energy system and academics from Auckland University of Technology agree, pointing out that the 14 biggest rooftops in Auckland would be equivalent to New Zealand’s largest solar farm. The rooftops of 167 schools and supermarkets would provide the same amount of energy, albeit much closer to the point of consumption and that's why we're arguing for a more decentralised system.
Read moreDownloadThe rise (and savings) of hot water heat pumps, Fisher & Paykel creates a one-stop-electrification shop, thinking fast and slow on World EV Day, Tesla gets into the train game, Vessev's beautiful boat, Toyota's white elephant, and one positive aspect of keeping up with the Joneses.
Read moreDownloadIf you've got questions about our recent report showing the almost $100 billion electrification opportunity in front of New Zealand, then Lou Aitken probably got the answers at the Investing in Tomorrow launch event. Check out the panel discussion with Dr Saul Griffith, Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway and Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment chief economist Geoff Simmons.
Read moreDownloadMike Casey lays out Rewiring Aotearoa's argument for a regulatory change that would allow customers with solar and batteries to compete fairly with large generators, something we call symmetrical export tariffs. It's important to note that these are not subsidies or rebates. "They simply ensure customers get a true reflection of the value they provide to the electricity market. They are no more a rebate than the half-hourly prices in the wholesale market, paid to generators for their output ... The current pricing structure is compromising New Zealand’s delivery of a secure and affordable power system; it fails to recognise that peak demand could be reduced with the help of household batteries; it perpetuates the idea that we need to spend tens of billions to upgrade our poles and wires to cope with that peak demand; and it is stifling demand for solar and batteries among New Zealanders because their true value is not being accurately reflected in the price paid for export."
Read moreDownload"The only way we can begin to hedge our businesses against higher spot prices is by beginning to generate our own electricity," says Mike Casey. Read about how he hopes to turn his energy bill into a revenue stream with the help of solar and batteries that can generate electricity cheaply, and store it to sell when it's expensive.
Read moreDownloadRewiring Aotearoa thinks customers need to be considered part of the energy infrastructure and three academics from AUT agree, arguing that a more decentralised system could play an important role in a more resilient system. As they say: "By focusing only on solar farms, we are using new technologies in an old-fashioned way, by centralising power generation in certain locations, in the hands of a few companies."
Read moreDownloadThe recently announced Energy Competition Taskforce has announced "two packages of work that collectively aim to encourage investment in new generation, bolster competition and provide more opportunities for consumers to manage their own electricity use and costs" and said it is "serious about creating change". Of particular interest to Rewiring Aotearoa was the section about better rewarding customers to "encourage greater uptake of things like time-of-use pricing plans, rooftop solar and batteries, and demand response by industrial firms," as EA chair Anna Kominik said in a press release. This is positive and aligns with what we've been asking for and what we outlined in our symmetrical export tariffs paper, but it is important to note that these are not rebates. This is just cost-reflective two-way pricing that levels the playing field between small and large generators. As Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says: "To date, every home giving energy back has been getting a bad deal. We believe their contribution to the system should be accurately priced and, as we said when the taskforce was announced, we want a level playing field, not just a slightly less uneven playing field." Casey says this pricing also needs to be mandatory otherwise the EA risks further delay to keeping bills down and building a more secure and resilient energy system. "We talk about guaranteeing investment signals on the big end of town. How about the average Kiwi got some guaranteed investment signals that are fair?"
Read moreDownload