About Us

Community Energy Network is an incorporated society made up of community enterprises around New Zealand with shared values and objectives.

Mission

Our mission is to support a community-led approach to improving the social, health and environmental performance of New Zealand’s housing stock, and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of household energy use, for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

How do we achieve this?

We work towards achieving our mission by

  • Sharing resources, information and training to support local services
  • Collaborating to provide services nationwide
  • Providing a voice for the sector and our communities of interest

What’s a community enterprise?

Community enterprises are social businesses established to make positive changes in response to local needs. Funding may come from a number of sources but community enterprises also carry out trade. Unlike a commercial business surpluses are returned to meet the organisations purpose. This model of working returns benefits to a community rather than private profits to individuals.

Collectively, our members employ over 400 staff and benefit from the support of another 100 volunteers. In the previous 12 months we collectively retrofitted insulation into 10,000 New Zealand homes as part of EECA’s Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart programme.

Installing insulation and energy efficient heating through Warm Up New Zealand is core business for many of our members. Involvement in the scheme creates training and jobs for local people, healthier homes for occupants and income for community enterprises. This work enables many other projects to be delivered in local communities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our members run a variety of other projects too. Like Curtain Banks, Home Energy Advice services,  recycling and waste management and Environment Centres. These projects result in important social benefits that would not be created without the work of community enterprises.

CBEC in Kaitaita has been operating throughout Northland since 1989. They run a range of local businesses to create jobs and improve the environment, like this wate transfer station. They also improve local homes with insulation and energy efficient heating