Latest news with #Meridian
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Climate
- NZ Herald
How a solar storage battery is helping Raglan Community House support those in need
When storms knock out power in Whāingaroa, locals know where to go for shelter, warmth, a hot drink and someone to talk to. It's not a civil defence base or a generator-fed hub. It's Raglan Community House. Now, thanks to a solar storage battery funded by Meridian Energy, it's more reliable than ever. Run by a charitable trust, Raglan Community House has quietly done the work of many services under one roof for nearly four decades. 'We just work our butts off to make sure we cover as many people as possible,' said House manager Mike Rarere. Services include a drop-in lounge, low-cost counselling, free digital device support, youth programmes, budgeting advice and a local radio show. 'We cover the whole spectrum of our community, from mums and bubbas through to youth, families, adults going through tough times, and our senior community,' Rarere said. 'In rural areas you don't have lots of organisations doing one specialised thing. So, we try to meet as many needs as we can. Raglan is one of those places that likes to find its own solutions for its own challenges – it's a place where the community steps up.' Last year, more than 2200 people visited the drop-in lounge. 'We've got a lovely east-facing lounge that catches the sun, and a heat pump that keeps it warm in winter,' Rarere said. 'People come in for a cup of tea and a chat. A lot of humour, a lot of laughter goes down.' Keeping a centre like this running through wild weather hasn't been easy. Solar panels were installed more than a decade ago, long before energy storage was common for small charities. Until recently, it had no way to store the power it generated. That changed with support from Meridian Energy's Community Decarbonisation Fund. 'Before the battery was added, any excess power just went back to the grid,' Rarere said. 'Now we can store it and use it, even when the grid goes down.' It's a crucial upgrade for a hub that now can stay open when others can't. 'We've had a few power outages in recent years. We're one of the only places that can support people when it's cold and the power goes out,' he said. 'People need help. If there's no one, they're just on their own. For seniors and those living in poverty, no power means no cooking, no warmth. We provide a space that hopefully helps with that.' Although the battery is new, the house is already seen as a reliable fallback. For Rarere, it's about more than power. It's about purpose. 'Community organisations run on the smell of an oily rag. We already do a lot, and we also have to respond to things that pop up, whether it's mental health, domestic violence or something else. We just do our very best.' 'You never know what will walk through the door. Someone might be talking about self-harm or living in a tent. You've got to respond with empathy and stay solutions-focused. We don't have all the answers. We just try our best.' He urged other grassroots groups to apply for Meridian's backing. 'If it meets the criteria and they can get Meridian's support, that would be fantastic. The more we can do to build stability in our communities, the better.' Meridian's Community Decarbonisation Fund helps organisations reduce carbon emissions and supports their sustainability goals. Nearly $3 million has already supported community-led projects across the country. For Rarere, it all goes back to his early days as a youth worker in South Auckland, running martial arts and hip-hop events in the 1990s and 2000s. 'Living a life of purpose is something I reflected on many years ago. I had a look at earning a lot of money, but I saw people who had it and weren't happy. I wanted to be able to look back and say I'd made a difference,' he said. 'Working on the front line gives me perspective. When I'm feeling down or facing challenges in my own life, there's always someone out there doing it tougher. It's a privilege to hear people's stories. And it reminds me to just get on with it.' With a full battery, a warm lounge and an open door, Raglan Community House keeps the lights on – in every sense.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Buc-ee's discussed opening its westernmost location yet
Buc-ee's has explored the possibility of expanding to Idaho in a move that would give the Texas-based travel center its westernmost location. City officials in Meridian, Idaho met with Buc-ee's representatives on June 12 to discuss the potential of opening a travel center in the city, Meridian Economic Development Administrator Curtis Calder told USA TODAY. However, Buc-ee's has not submitted an application for the project. Though plans for an Idaho Buc-ee's are still hypothetical, Buc-ee's fans online are already eager for the travel center to hit their state. In a heartfelt TikTok video posted on July 9, a woman is told Buc-ee's may expand to Idaho in which she covers her mouth in disbelief. Buc-ee's did not wish to comment when contacted by USA TODAY on Friday, July 18. What's so great about Buc-ee's? Fans love the food, gas pumps, mascot, sparkling bathrooms Buc-ee's continues to expand national footprint Buc-ee's, a travel center known for its long-line of gas pumps, large restrooms and beaver-themed merchandise, was established in Texas by Arch "Beaver" Aplin III in 1982, per the Buc-ee's website. Over the past 40-plus years, Aplin has lead the opening of more than 50 locations, which started in Texas and then began to branch throughout the South, Midwest and now are creeping to the West. An expansion into Idaho would mark the chain's westernmost location, which is currently positioned in Berthoud, Colorado. Shoppers recently celebrated the grand opening of Virginia's first Buc-ee's location, which opened its doors in Mount Crawford on June 30. That location opened just one day before another new store in in Brunswick, on Georgia's southeast coast. Other states with Buc-ee's locations include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee. Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Buc-ee's in Idaho? What we know about potential new store location
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Buc-ee's discussed opening its westernmost location yet
Buc-ee's has explored the possibility of expanding to Idaho in a move that would give the Texas-based travel center its westernmost location. City officials in Meridian, Idaho met with Buc-ee's representatives on June 12 to discuss the potential of opening a travel center in the city, Meridian Economic Development Administrator Curtis Calder told USA TODAY. However, Buc-ee's has not submitted an application for the project. Though plans for an Idaho Buc-ee's are still hypothetical, Buc-ee's fans online are already eager for the travel center to hit their state. In a heartfelt TikTok video posted on July 9, a woman is told Buc-ee's may expand to Idaho in which she covers her mouth in disbelief. Buc-ee's did not wish to comment when contacted by USA TODAY on Friday, July 18. What's so great about Buc-ee's? Fans love the food, gas pumps, mascot, sparkling bathrooms Buc-ee's continues to expand national footprint Buc-ee's, a travel center known for its long-line of gas pumps, large restrooms and beaver-themed merchandise, was established in Texas by Arch "Beaver" Aplin III in 1982, per the Buc-ee's website. Over the past 40-plus years, Aplin has lead the opening of more than 50 locations, which started in Texas and then began to branch throughout the South, Midwest and now are creeping to the West. An expansion into Idaho would mark the chain's westernmost location, which is currently positioned in Berthoud, Colorado. Shoppers recently celebrated the grand opening of Virginia's first Buc-ee's location, which opened its doors in Mount Crawford on June 30. That location opened just one day before another new store in in Brunswick, on Georgia's southeast coast. Other states with Buc-ee's locations include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee. Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Buc-ee's in Idaho? What we know about potential new store location
NZ Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
On the Up: Power pricing start-up Factor secures $3m, signs first customer across the Tasman
The Wellington-based pair say Factor is delivering a suite of tools – with AI in the mix – that automate what has traditionally been a clunky, spreadsheet-based pricing process for energy retailers, distribution networks and other energy tech companies. 'Simon and I have been working together for a decade. We were part of the founding team at Flick Electric,' Venning-Bryan says, name-checking the upstart electricity retailer that began its life selling power at wholesale rates plus a margin. Flick was sold to Z in 2018 for $46m. Z, in turn, sold Flick to Meridian in May for $70m. 'I was CMO [chief marketing officer] there and Simon was CTO [chief technology officer].' After Flick was sold to Z, Venning-Bryan and Pohlen left to help scale up Flux Federation, Meridian's in-house effort to create billing software (last month, Meridian announced plans to cull 53 jobs from Flux as it entered an outsourcing deal with British firm Kraken). 'In the course of that work, we got to understand the commercial and industrial sector more deeply. We could see there was an opportunity in forecasting and pricing. 'The crux of the problem is that when a utility – and this is globally true – has to provide a price for a commercial customer, which could be anyone from an office building through to a factory through to a farm, those prices are bespoke. They don't come off a generic price book like they might for residential. 'So what happens is they go to a back office pricing team, who almost always use a combination of SQL [database] queries and spreadsheets to come up with a price. It can take a few days or even a few weeks.' And things are getting more complicated as corporate power customers add solar panels to some of their rooftops, and maybe install EV chargers – and in Fonterra's case, electric milk truck chargers – and other points of complexity amid greater electrification. The rise of AI offered the opportunity to quickly gather pricing from legacy systems without power companies having to rip them out. 'We interviewed 30 utilities in 15 markets to validate our own thinking about that opportunity,' Venning-Bryan says. Max Factor To outsiders, coming from a tiny market might seem a disadvantage. But Venning-Bryan says offshore utilities are gobsmacked by the lengths the start-up has had to go to grapple with New Zealand's multi-player market, which has 27 networks. Their pitch: if they can make it work here, they can make it work anywhere. 'We cut our teeth in New Zealand, one of the world's most complex energy markets, with dozens of distribution networks and no standardised meter data format. We built Factor to handle that, and in doing so we built something market-agnostic. That's why we're ready to scale globally,' Venning-Bryan says. Pohlen says Factor can be set up using natural language queries, thanks to technology that builds on Amazon Web Service's Chronos LLM (large language model). Factor has 10 staff, mostly AI experts and data scientists. The new funding will be used in part to expand the team, including sales and marketing roles. Icehouse Ventures chief executive Robbie Paul says Factor's ability to apply modern software design and AI to deeply entrenched industry problems is what drew his attention. 'Just when you think software and AI has eliminated all inefficiencies, in walk great entrepreneurs like Jessica Venning-Bryan and Simon Pohlen optimising a colossal industry like energy,' Paul says. Factor is Icehouse's second early-stage investment announced this week. The firm has raised $16m toward its target $30m for its new Seed Fund IV. Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
Scoop
16-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Meridian Welcomes High Court Approval Of NZ Windfarms Acquisition
Meridian Energy welcomes today's High Court approval of the Scheme of Arrangement under which Meridian will acquire all of the shares in NZ Windfarms Limited (NZWF). A copy of the sealed Final Orders is attached to the market announcement released today by NZWF. The final steps in the Scheme process are now underway. Provided the remaining customary conditions are satisfied or waived, implementation of the Scheme will occur on 30 July 2025. The two companies are already parties to a 50-50 joint venture to repower NZWF's largest asset, the TeRereHau Wind Farm inManawatū, and for Meridian topurchase100% of the generation from the wind farm. Meridian also currently holds a 19.99% shareholding in NZWF. Meridian willnow acquireall remaining shares in NZWF for $0.25 cash per share, corresponding to an equity value for NZWF of $91 million. The scheme was previously approved by NZWF shareholders on 24 June 2025. Meridian Chief Executive Mike Roan says the company is delighted to have now received High Court approval. 'This deal will reward NZ Windfarms' shareholders for the value created to date, while also enabling more efficient financing and delivery of the Te Rere Hau repowering project.' The repowering project involves the design, construction and operation of up to 39 new turbines with generation capacity of up to 170MW. It has the potential to generate seven times the annual renewable energy production of the current turbines.
