News & Updates
Mike 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.
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The 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.
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If 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.
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Mike 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."
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"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.
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Rewiring 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."
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The 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?"
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One News has covered the Investing in Tomorrow report, which shows that big household savings from electrification add up to big national savings. As Dr Saul Griffith says about the $29 million day that New Zealand could save if we swapped out fossil fuel machines for electric equivalents and ran them off renewable electricity from the grid, rooftop solar and batteries: "It's nice to be able to make the carrot that large because I think it focuses the policy mind on how to get there."
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'New Zealand can't afford not to electrify,' says Q&A's Jack Tame in the introduction to a story about Rewiring Aotearoa's new paper Investing in Tomorrow. He talks to Dr Saul Griffith about the savings at a household level, the $29 million a day electrification opportunity for the country as a whole, the economic slam dunk of rooftop solar and why the Government should be looking to give favourable finance to customers who can become part of our energy infrastructure.
Read moreSaul Griffith speaks to Bernard Hickey on When the Facts Change podcast about the new paper Investing in Tomorrow. As it summarises: "Saul Griffith helped change the world a couple of years ago when he and a couple of "tech bro" mates convinced Joe Biden to rewrite the Democrats’ Green New Deal and pitch it as an Inflation Reduction Act to rewire America’s economy with renewable energy. Saul makes a pitch for Aotearoa to do the same, but much cheaper and much faster, instead of the government’s current plan to spend $1 billion importing gas over the next couple of years. He presents Rewiring Aotearoa’s paper on The Electrification Opportunity, which estimates cheaper power costs worth $10.7 billion per year by 2040.
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We've filled our electric boots this week with more good news for EV seekers as the upfront costs keep dropping, the EV that has been around the world about 50 times, grid-scale batteries are on the rise and the world's biggest one is equal to about 130 million laptop batteries, restaurants in New Orleans are being given solar panels to help the community out in case of hurricanes, and a spicy electricity-related letter to the editor.
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As we've said before, it's not just us arguing for more rooftop solar. A number of academics are onboard and Kevin Trenberth, Distinguished Scholar at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the US and honorary academic at the Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, is one of them. As he says: "Germany has about 20 percent less sunshine than New Zealand, but 3.7 million solar systems generating 61 gigawatts of power (12 percent of their total energy supply). In New Zealand, there is an estimated 200 MW from rooftop solar, and all solar (not just rooftop) provides under 1 percent of New Zealand’s power. A major reason for the very low uptake of solar in New Zealand is the absence of incentives and effectively, penalties against investing in it." We're doing our best to create incentives and remove penalties by pushing for symmetrical export tariffs, where a customer is paid the same amount for any electricity that is exported from the premises at peak times as they are charged for any power they consume at peak times. If we level the playing field, customers can become part of the energy system.
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Farmer's Weekly editor Bryan Gibson talks to Mike Casey on the InFocus podcast about paying back the capital on a recent solar investment in five years, the changes that need to be made to the 'braided river' that is our national grid to incentivise more farms to become power plants, and the strangeness of the current system that sees fossil fuels sent from Saudi Arabia, to Singapore and then onto boats and trucks, when we could be powering our electric farm machines directly from the farm.
A cornucopia of electrification optimism this week, with Ubco inking a big deal in Australia, FTN Motion also getting set to head across the Tasman, Octopus Energy's founder Greg Jackson on the new champ in energy town, David Wallace-Wells looks at what we will do with all our 'free' solar power, and Germany shows how loosening up permits for renewables has led to a huge and rapid boost of energy supply.
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"Combined, New Zealand homes and businesses are currently spending around $55 million every day or $20 billion per year on fossil fuels, most of which are imported," says Saul Griffith. "Approximately two-thirds of New Zealand’s total energy needs are met by burning these expensive fossil fuels. But this country is one of the first in the world to cross an ‘electrification tipping point’, where the cost of buying and financing electric machines is cheaper over the long run than using fossil fuels. That leads to savings for individual households and it could lead to huge savings for the country as a whole.”
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Alka Prasad digs into the numbers in the Investing in Tomorrow report and finds out how New Zealand could save $29 million per week just by electrifying our homes and cars.
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August 28: Rewiring Aotearoa has welcomed the announcement of a taskforce to address issues in the electricity market but says the time for investigating is over and it is now time for action.
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"The principle narrative of the last few decades – that we can’t afford to solve climate change – is just not true," Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey tells Ellen Rykers for the Future Proof newsletter as the organisation launches a new report outlining the economic opportunity of electrification called Investing in Tomorrow.
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"You can actually now demonstrably show that for large sections of every economy in the world, it is now cost effective to solve climate change – and that's a pretty radical new idea," says Saul Griffith.
Read moreOverall, 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.
Read moreShareable linkDownloadFocusing 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 moreShareable linkDownloadRewiring 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 moreShareable linkDownloadRewiring 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 moreShareable linkDownloadThe 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 moreShareable linkDownloadThe 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 moreShareable linkDownloadOur 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.
Read moreShareable linkDownloadThere 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.
Read moreShareable linkDownloadRakiura / 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.
Read moreShareable linkDownloadOverall, 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.
Read moreShareable linkDownload18 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.
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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.
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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.
Read moreShareable linkDownloadPlenty of people need cars (and plenty of people still want them), and other vehicles are literal engines of prosperity. We don't have to give them up to reach our climate goals. We just need them to be electric.
Read moreSolar on our rooftops, farms and businesses can displace the emissions generated by burning fossil fuels in our homes and especially our cars, provide the extra electricity we need to run our electric machines, help bring the cost of electricity down for everyone on the network, and improve our energy security by keeping water in our hydro lakes for when we need it most.
Read moreWe often hear from people who aren’t sure if switching to an electric alternative is the right move. One of the most common questions we get asked is ‘will switching to an electric machine actually reduce my carbon footprint if creating the new machine or materials produces emissions?’It’s a fair question, and we completely agree it’s important to think about the full life cycle of the products we buy and use. Electric alternatives, including vehicles, often produce more emissions than fossil fuel equivalents during manufacturing. But, over the lifetime of the machine, they create much less carbon pollution because they don't burn any fuel.
Read moreFossil fuels for homes, transport and industrial processes make up the vast majority of the country’s total energy consumption. Electrifying the machines that use these fossil fuels means we will use more electricity but much less energy overall.
Read moreAn electrified energy system is actually full of opportunities for redesign, reuse, recovery and recycling. There are opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs to generate value across the lifespan of every energy asset, not least the return of its components to the manufacturing cycle. To explore this further, Rewiring Aotearoa has partnered with Circularity, local experts in circular design and strategy, to explain what the circular economy is, how to integrate circularity into the design of energy systems, and the role of policy strategy to make it happen.
Read moreThere are no free lunches in energy. But some lunches are far, far cheaper than others. Electrifying everything will massively reduce the overall material and energy requirements of the global energy system. This can be said with high confidence. To be sure, renewable energy systems take materials and energy to build. But this is dwarfed by the mind-boggling scale of extraction, consumption and wastefulness of fossil energy.
Read morePeople sometimes talk about ‘carbon tunnel vision’ – that is, the single-minded pursuit of emission reductions at the sake of everything else. But this is the wrong way to think about electrification. It isn’t only about emissions (even though preventing the world from dangerous overheating is quite the co-benefit). It isn’t only about the tech or the kit: the rooftop solar panels, the batteries, the electrified appliances and vehicles. These are just the means to an end. Electrification is about people and it is a fundamentally better way to power our lives and livelihoods.
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Some 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.
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We'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.
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2025 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.
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Charge 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.
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Using 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.
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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.
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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.
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A 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.
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We'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.
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A 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.
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