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One 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.
As he says: “Since coming on board, my focus has been on building the foundation for a thriving network of electric communities nationwide. This includes developing a Community Activation Strategy, creating readily available resources for communities to use and distribute as well as touring Australia’s community groups to bring learnings back to Aotearoa. Most importantly, I have been busy forming relationships with community leaders across the country, and through our conversations, shifted thinking toward developing rapid electrification pathways for their local community. We now have groups formed/forming in Wairarapa, Kāpiti, Paekākāriki, Dunedin, Waiheke, Wānaka, Grey Lynn, Castle Hill, Lower Hutt, Taranaki, Christchurch, Tairāwhiti, Queenstown, Northland, Marlborough, Tasman and Hawke’s Bay.”
The momentum so far is really exciting and just as we are trying to build a more decentralised energy system, we are also building a decentralised community movement where every region takes a slightly different approach based on the needs of the community.
"Whether it’s Kāpiti building capability in residents to understand their energy bills and plan their electric transition, Wairarapa’s successful two-day conference and expo, or Wānaka’s regular information stalls in the community, we’re seeing groups move faster than the ones that precede them."
With the backing of Rewiring Aotearoa, electric communities are putting wins on the board too: Electrify Grey Lynn has secured council funding, Waiheke has developed a comprehensive work plan and working groups (including a bulk buy plan!) and Queenstown has planned a three-day electrification event with international speakers for May.
As the year rolls on, we’ll see more pilot programmes and electric conversions thanks to our electric communities.
"We'll also continue to get in front of more regions to catalyse local movements, and invest in channels that help groups learn from and communicate with each other. Electric communities will be instrumental as advocates for the necessary policy and regulatory changes we’re working toward, too. Local action is crucial to Rewiring’s mission."
"We've lost the cops!" In our next instalment of Political Power, we managed to get David Seymour, deputy prime minister and leader of the Act Party, behind the wheel of a Zeekr 7x when he was in Queenstown recently. As is often the case when people take a new EV for a spin, there was much chortling as he gave it heaps up the Remarkables ski field road - and, if we take him at his word, we might even see him give Mike Casey's tractor heaps up Parliament steps in the future.
Read moreDownloadEVs are having a moment right now, so how can we get more people driving electric; Tom Selleck sums up how EV owners are feeling right now and staggering analysis shows the sun's prices have been unaffected by decades of geopolitical conflict; Scion goes solar to get off gas, while dairy farmers and homes go with solar and batteries to keep going; Saul Griffith takes his solar-powered scooter to Canberra and starts a fight with regulators; the Cancer Society's Lions Lodge in Hamilton gets some panels donated and will save $17,000 a year; and killing the Friday vibe with new studies on how fossil fuel companies made massive profits after the last energy crisis in 2022 and carbon emissions making our blood boil - perhaps quite literally.
Read moreDownloadAn electrification advocate says the rising price and falling supply of gas may not be a bad thing in the long-term. PwC research —commissioned by Gas Industry Co— has found New Zealand's gas market will need to shrink sharply as domestic supply declines. It warns this could mean business closures, job losses, and higher energy costs.