News & Updates

From Fieldays, Rural Exchange speaks with Mike Casey about his presentation to kiwifruit growers at the Zespri tent ("it's all about how we save $40,000 a year on energy costs"), and how his orchard is showing other farmers what's possible.

Jamie Mackay, who was recently made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to broadcasting and the rural community, says he has "a special thing going" with Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey and admires the way he's driving innovation in the rural sector. Direct from Fieldays, he speaks with Casey about the practicalities of electric machines on different farms, and the new hybrid (and, soon enough, electric) utes.

Electrification is our jam at Rewiring Aotearoa. And Electric Avenue is where we spread it. This week, reducing costs and connecting the community through solar panels and batteries at marae, the electrification excitement brewing in the rural sector, why solar roofs might take over from solar panels, how your first EV could be the last car you ever need, and how the best new car could be an old car.

Rewiring Aotearoa's Mike Casey writes in Newsroom about the Commerce Commission's recent draft decision on how much the electricity distribution businesses can spend in the next few years. "This $1.3 billion saving is actually a win for consumers and a step in the right direction for the energy sector. While the bills are still going up by 74 percent over the next five years, they’re not going up by as much as they could have. And if the rules change, households, farms and businesses with solar and batteries can reduce their energy bills even further."

Speaking from Fieldays, one of the country's biggest agricultural shindigs, Mike Casey speaks with RNZ's Charlotte Ryan about the excitement he's seeing from farmers about the benefits of electrification, the difference between solar on farms and solar farms, and the notoriety that comes from being on Country Calendar.

RNZ's Eloise Gibson has taken another look at the energy sector and found there are lessons to be learned from Australia, where around one third of homes have rooftop solar. In New Zealand, the number is a lot lower, but it's growing quickly and that's largely because it makes economic sense over the long term, especially if you've electrified your appliances and vehicles. Batteries and solar combos are also becoming more common and every home with a battery basically removes themselves from the peak period. "But Mike Casey of clean energy charity Rewiring Aotearoa said battery prices were falling quickly, and combined solar and battery systems were now the cheapest source of energy available to households - even including the upfront cost of buying the equipment ... Casey said if households had better access to low-cost loans, they could buy household batteries themselves and take pressure off electricity generators by using their own power in times of shortage. They could also sell their surplus to others, taking more pressure off the grid when supply is tight."

Drive Electric's board chair Kristen Corson outlines in Newsroom how new EVs and smart technology can do much more than just get us from A to B and could instead play a role in the energy system. As she says: "Next time you consider the potential of an EV in your garage, reframe it as a battery on wheels that can power your house and your business. This perspective reveals a whole new set of benefits beyond that of a car."

Welcome to the first instalment of our weekly trip down Electric Avenue, where the Rewiring Aotearoa team shares the good, the bad and the ugly (but mostly the good) from the world of electrification.

Rewiring Aotearoa's CEO Mike Casey explains the thinking behind a recent Commerce Commission decision, the gap it opens up for customer generation, storage and smart demand management technology, and the role the Electricity Authority needs to play to speed up adoption.

Rakiura / 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.

RNZ's Eloise Gibson looked into the question of whether gas or electric appliances are cheaper and the evidence, as outlined in Rewiring Aotearoa's Electric Homes report, is pretty clear: even with the upfront costs of replacement and finance, running electric hot water, electric heating and electric cooking is much cheaper - and less toxic - than using fossil gas and it's cheaper still if you've got rooftop solar and batteries. It makes no economic sense for new homes to connect to gas in New Zealand and if your old gas appliance breaks down, it pays to make your next purchasing electric. "Compared with using piped gas heating, hot water, and cooking, a fully electric home could save almost $11,000 over 15 years for upfront costs and energy bills, the study found. Compared with using bottled LPG for heating, hot water, and cooking, a fully electric home could save almost $20,000 over the same period."

"Mike is probably the most public face for advocating for decarbonisation through electrification in New Zealand, and someone who is demonstrating outstanding leadership."

New Zealand farmers are renowned for their ability to produce things like lamb, beef and dairy, but there's a new product they're moving into: renewable electricity. A new report by energy transition charity Rewiring Aotearoa says the benefits to farmers of installing solar and battery systems include cheaper power, resilience to outages and being able to make money from selling electricity back to the grid. Maniatoto farmer Becks Smith said installing solar to power her irrigation systems is the logical next step for the farm business. "We're actually really good at producing off solar power, that's what we do with our grass every day," she told Newshub. Smith is planning to install solar to generate electricity on farm to run her irrigation pumps during summer, while in winter when the pump is turned off, she can still generate electricity and sell it back to the grid. She said it improves business and community resilience. "Farms have the opportunity to be local electricity hubs to supply into local networks. Should the infrastructure be damaged in a natural disaster, we have the ability to support our communities."

Queenstown Lakes’ commitment to a carbon-zero visitor economy will be brought to life for business owners and tourism operators at the region’s inaugural Electrifying Queenstown business summit next month. A collaboration between Destination Queenstown and Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce, the initiative is powered by Aurora Energy, inviting local businesses to unlock the economic benefits of electrification, saving on costs and growing their business while decarbonising. "One of the most effective ways to decarbonise is by going electric. We’re excited to have experts joining Electrifying Queenstown to share knowledge and practical ideas to support the tourism and business community to shift to a sustainable future,” says Destination Queenstown Chief Executive Mat Woods.

What if you could arrange a half-day in the debating chamber when I could bring a group we’re calling the “Coalition of the Willing” to share constructive, economic solutions around the opportunities climate change and sustainability offer to Aotearoa New Zealand? Opportunities that could significantly lift our GDP, reduce billion-dollar infrastructure costs, create high-value jobs and maximise returns from our forestry and geothermal assets. 1. ReWiring Aotearoa (Mike Casey and team): Current strategy involves spending billions on infrastructure to move electricity from fast-tracked wind and solar farms, potentially doubling household costs. Casey’s fossil-fuel free, fully electric orchard in Central Otago shows how rooftop solar panels and batteries can deliver power directly to homes and businesses at a fraction of the cost, building energy resilience. The importance of this was highlighted this month. As we faced those potential power cuts, Casey’s farm actually delivered excess electricity back to the grid. While the farm uses 900 per cent more electricity than before it was electrified, most of that is self-generated or stored off the grid during off-peak times. Electricity is sold back during peak times. The annual saving on diesel is $40,000 a year. Imagine every farm in the country working like that.

Listen to Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey speak about the Electric Farms paper from 4.38.

The New Zealand Green Building Council's new report 'Closing the Gap' shows that improving buildings could save New Zealand almost $40 billion and slash emissions. "Improving the standard of new buildings and electrification are no-brainers. The sooner we get started, the more emissions we’ll avoid and the more money Kiwis, businesses and farmers will save," says Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey. Andrew Eagles, NZGBC chief executive says: "As New Zealand is bound by law and international trade agreements to reduce our emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, our buildings are a key lever." Actions explored in the report include: Staggered improvements to the building code, requiring new buildings to measuring operational and upfront carbon emissions at consenting stage from 2025, a 20% reduction in both upfront and operational emissions by 2028, 40% reduction in upfront carbon emissions and near zero energy in operation by 20230, and a 60% reduction in upfront carbon emissions and near zero energy in operation by 2034. Require all homes put up for sale or rent to have an Energy Performance Certificates by 2028, and all office buildings over 1,000sqm put up for sale or lease to have a NABERSNZ certificate from 2026. Phase out of fossil gas in homes and commercial buildings. Suggested actions include expand the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme to subsidise electrification of home heating from 2027, converting 25,000 homes a year. End new residential fossil gas connections from 2026. Implement a concerted programme, building on the successful replacement of coal boilers in schools and hospitals, to subsidise 10% of commercial buildings per year from 2026 to electrify.

[At 2 mins] Meanwhile plenty of Kiwis are taking energy security into their own hands, like retired chartered accountant Mike Campbell, who's moving into a retirement village where he's installed solar panels [and a battery]. "I'm producing more energy than I can actually use, even though I've got an electric car, and it goes off to the grid and it feeds somebody else." He would love to see the Government help young people install solar and battery systems. "They can help young people to reduce their power bills by a lot of money."

Yesterday I spoke to Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey and Octopus Energy NZ Chief Operating Officer Margaret Cooney about the current state of our electricity market and what could be done to fix it. Casey talked about how he earned extra money by exporting power into the grid at sky-high prices from the solar panels and batteries he installed to fully electrify his cherry orchard in Cromwell. Cooney talked about how Octopus Energy UK pays customers to reduce demand and uses automation to match supply and demand. She also talks about a way to make the market more competitive and viable for independent retailers buying from the wholesale market.

A comprehensive new research report released by EECA (the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority) unpacks where Kiwi homeowners are at with household electrification, identifying the opportunity when it comes to energy use, emissions, and running costs. The research finds over a third of key appliances (36%) in use – for cooking, heating spaces, and heating water – are over a decade old. The average for vehicles (including EVs) is even older at 14.9 years. Among those surveyed, ‘end of life’ of the current appliance was by far the main reason consumers will invest in new, with 75% of people saying this was a key motivator for them.