Why An Energy Evolution Is Needed
Our Energy sector needs to step up and make changes that allows for a more inclusive and community focused approach
People Power – Kiwi Style?
How can we leverage community energy to provide a fair transition to a low carbon world. Plenty of lessons from overseas!
Rau Kūmara Solar Farm, a Community Energy Project by Energise Ōtaki
Rau Kūmara Solar Farm is a community renewable energy project by Energise Ōtaki Charitable Trust, a charity developing and implementing energy awareness, efficiency, and microgeneration projects since 2011. It embarked on the Rau Kūmara solar farm proposal in 2015, working with experienced industry specialists who volunteered their time for feasibility modeling and technical design. In […]
Why is collecting data important to growing healthy community energy sectors through ownership of renewable generation assets
A healthy, growing community energy sector supports communities to take ownership of assets that provide renewable generation, operation, and demand management services. This allows each community to: Eliminate energy hardship by providing high engagement in energy generation and use. This engagement provides opportunities to develop retrofit projects that are focussed on making homes efficient and […]
New Zealand Aotearoa Community Energy Dataset
What is the New Zealand Aotearoa Community Energy Dataset (NZACED) This is a dataset of local or community owned renewable energy initiatives in New Zealand. It ranges from consumer trust owned networks, to community and Iwi owned renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and municipal projects. To provide some context for the current state of […]
A Fresh Energy Hardship Framework
CEN Introduction What do we need to do to eliminate energy hardship in Aotearoa/New Zealand? The framework discussion below is the second blog of two written by Ian McChesney. It neatly highlights the key areas for discussion and emphasises the need to improve the way we develop consensus on complex issues that deeply impact the […]
Energy Democracy
Energy democracy is the idea that New Zealand can shift from a centralised, top-down provision of energy to one that prioritises deep engagement and local decision-making for communities to literally “own” their energy network. The reason this is so important is not only because it helps to give a resilient supply of electricity, but it […]
Energy Hardship
People living in energy hardship live in homes that perform so poorly that the cost of keeping the home warm and dry (and have hot water when they need it) is too high. Lining up with the dynamics of economic poverty, energy hardship comes from having a home that is hard to heat and keep […]