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Rewiring Aotearoa’s latest research shows that the average electric home could save around $3,000 every year, including upfront costs and interest on a loan, compared to a home running on petrol and gas. The savings gap between electric homes and cars and fossil fuelled homes and cars has doubled in two years as energy prices have increased and the price of solar, batteries, electric vehicles and other appliances has fallen. These household savings add up to millions in savings for communities and billions for the country, while also adding jobs, increasing productivity and energy security, and slashing emissions and fuel imports. 

Independent economist Cameron Bagrie peer reviewed the Electric Homes and Vehicles 2026 report. He offers his view of the world and why electrification offers New Zealand the potential to take a major step forward.

The age of fossil fuels is ending, and the world is entering the era of solar power. What matters now is how fast we make the shift. "New Zealand has a tendency to think big, he says—to look to large infrastructure solutions to problems. This time, maybe we could think small. Small but many. Getting enough homes, farms and businesses on solar would change how we think about our electrical grid, and it would prepare us for a warmer future in which demands on that grid might peak in summer, as we resort to air-conditioning. Households would become part of the country’s energy infrastructure."