Latest news with #MikeCasey
Otago Daily Times
28-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Trust awards preschool $250,000
Wānaka. PHOTO: ARCHIVE Over $200,000 was awarded to a local preschool during a recent Central Lakes Trust meeting when more than $1million was given to programmes across the region. Wānaka Preschool Early Childhood Centre received $250,000 last week, which has gone towards refreshing their current spaces and expanding to add a second sleep room. Sixty-two children attend the preschool. Centre manager Lo Stevenson said they received inquiries about available spaces on a daily basis, and had decided to cap their wait list at 100 children. The renovations would allow them to expand their roll, enabling them to continue to meet the growing needs of the community. The centre was one of many programmes and projects to receive funding as the trust had awarded over $1m across the region. This funding is set to support a wide range of initiatives across the region, including film-making, cancer rehabilitation, facilities upgrades and community safety. The Upper Clutha Presbyterian Church received $15,000 for its youth workers in the Mt Aspiring College programme and the Wānaka Community Patrol was awarded a $2500 operational grant. Some of the larger figures awarded in the broader region include $220,000 awarded to Queenstown Electrification Accelerator Programme, led by Rewiring Aotearoa. This pilot programme will establish a locally based team to develop momentum and accelerate movement to alternate energy sources. "Switching our energy reliance from fossil fuels to locally generated electricity will lower the cost of living, improve community health, and reduce emissions," Rewiring Aotearoa chief executive Mike Casey said. Trust chairwoman Linda Robertson said the trust was thrilled to be supporting an initiative that would help create a more resilient future for the community. Youth mental health organisation ADL also received over $100,000 and the Otago Community Hospice Trust was awarded just over $200,000. — APL
Scoop
10-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electrify Queenstown To Return In 2026
Press Release – Destination Queenstown Now a cornerstone event in Queenstowns calendar, Electrify Queenstown will take place from 17 19 May 2026, bringing together industry leaders, innovators, politicians and policymakers to share practical, cost-effective ways for businesses and households … Queenstown, New Zealand (10 June 2025) – Electrify Queenstown will return for a third year, following the huge success of the 2025 event which built strong momentum across the region. Now a cornerstone event in Queenstown's calendar, Electrify Queenstown will take place from 17 – 19 May 2026, bringing together industry leaders, innovators, politicians and policymakers to share practical, cost-effective ways for businesses and households to electrify. Mat Woods, Chief Executive of Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism, says Electrify Queenstown is an event designed to turn ideas into action. 'The energy this year was incredible with hundreds of people turning up to explore new and emerging technologies and future-focused solutions that not only save you money, but are good for the environment too.' he said. Attendees this year included local residents, visitors from around New Zealand, business owners, and change makers all eager to share the opportunities and challenges involved in a low-emissions future. The event featured bold announcements including plans for a low-emissions urban cable car network in Queenstown, the debut of new electric marine propulsion technology on Lake Whakatipu, and the release of Rewiring Aotearoa's policy manifesto. Mike Casey, CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, says there's an exciting opportunity for New Zealand to lead the global energy transition, and events like Electrify Queenstown are helping educate kiwis about what's possible. 'Aotearoa New Zealand is one of the few countries that has reached the electrification tipping point where it's cheaper to electrify than use the fossil fuel alternative. 'Whether you're in it for the cost savings, lowering emissions, or energy security, we all win by going electric.' Mike said. Electrify Queenstown is proving to be a valuable platform for businesses and innovators to showcase energy-efficient solutions for homes and enterprises. Sharon Fifield, CEO of Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce, says it's inspiring to see the momentum that's been built since the inaugural one-day event in 2024. 'Businesses are seeing the economic value of electrification alongside the environmental benefits, and there's genuine enthusiasm to get involved and make a difference.' Sharon said. With strong interest from locals eager to lower their bills, become more energy efficient and resilient, organisers say Electrify Queenstown 2026 will again cater to everyone with even more opportunities for collaboration and innovation. 'Each year, more people are seeing what's possible through electrification and it's exciting to think about what 2026 will bring.' Mat added. Electrify Queenstown 2026 will take place at the Queenstown Events Centre, Sunday 17 May – Tuesday 19 May 2026. The event supports Queenstown Lakes' destination management plan and the broader goal of regenerative tourism and a carbon-zero visitor economy by 2030.
Scoop
10-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Electrify Queenstown To Return In 2026
Queenstown, New Zealand (10 June 2025) – Electrify Queenstown will return for a third year, following the huge success of the 2025 event which built strong momentum across the region. Now a cornerstone event in Queenstown's calendar, Electrify Queenstown will take place from 17 – 19 May 2026, bringing together industry leaders, innovators, politicians and policymakers to share practical, cost-effective ways for businesses and households to electrify. Mat Woods, Chief Executive of Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism, says Electrify Queenstown is an event designed to turn ideas into action. 'The energy this year was incredible with hundreds of people turning up to explore new and emerging technologies and future-focused solutions that not only save you money, but are good for the environment too.' he said. Attendees this year included local residents, visitors from around New Zealand, business owners, and change makers all eager to share the opportunities and challenges involved in a low-emissions future. The event featured bold announcements including plans for a low-emissions urban cable car network in Queenstown, the debut of new electric marine propulsion technology on Lake Whakatipu, and the release of Rewiring Aotearoa's policy manifesto. Mike Casey, CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, says there's an exciting opportunity for New Zealand to lead the global energy transition, and events like Electrify Queenstown are helping educate kiwis about what's possible. 'Aotearoa New Zealand is one of the few countries that has reached the electrification tipping point where it's cheaper to electrify than use the fossil fuel alternative. 'Whether you're in it for the cost savings, lowering emissions, or energy security, we all win by going electric.' Mike said. Electrify Queenstown is proving to be a valuable platform for businesses and innovators to showcase energy-efficient solutions for homes and enterprises. Sharon Fifield, CEO of Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce, says it's inspiring to see the momentum that's been built since the inaugural one-day event in 2024. 'Businesses are seeing the economic value of electrification alongside the environmental benefits, and there's genuine enthusiasm to get involved and make a difference.' Sharon said. With strong interest from locals eager to lower their bills, become more energy efficient and resilient, organisers say Electrify Queenstown 2026 will again cater to everyone with even more opportunities for collaboration and innovation. 'Each year, more people are seeing what's possible through electrification and it's exciting to think about what 2026 will bring." Mat added. Electrify Queenstown 2026 will take place at the Queenstown Events Centre, Sunday 17 May - Tuesday 19 May 2026. The event supports Queenstown Lakes' destination management plan and the broader goal of regenerative tourism and a carbon-zero visitor economy by 2030.
Newsroom
10-06-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
The electricity evangelist spreading the solar message
Mike Casey is an electricity evangelist, spreading the word from his fossil-fuel-free cherry orchard in Cromwell. He's the CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, which has just released two reports – the first is a machine count of all the household items people could (and, the organisation says, should) convert to electricity; the second is a policy manifesto which sets out 59 ways to move towards an electrical utopia. In a political world where climate change issues don't appear to have a high priority, Rewiring Aotearoa's efforts could have fallen on deaf ears. However, says Newsroom senior political reporter and climate change writer Marc Daalder, the new Energy Minister Simon Watts has confirmed he's open to adopting the policy marked as the most important – making electrification loans accessible to everyone. The idea would be to use the high credit ratings of councils to leverage low-interest loans to install home solar panels. Daalder says such a scheme wouldn't put the debt on council balance sheets, and it would mean the Government wouldn't have to put up much money to do it either. 'Central government would only have to stump up for the set-up costs which would be two to six million dollars, so for someone like Simon Watts who really does want to see a deployment of solar, it's a great cost-of-living policy because it helps people reduce their energy bills, and that's one of the big growing aspects of our household bills at the moment.' Daalder says not directly having to subsidise solar but still giving the industry a big boost is pretty appealing for the Government. It doesn't need to plough billions into it because it's being consumer-driven and the economic case for the change is transparent as it is – there are just smaller failures around financing. He says it's fair to say this Government doesn't have a great record on climate policy. 'I think that Rewiring [Aotearoa] has done a good job of finding a niche where actually maybe there can be some progress from the Government.' And he detects a change of heart in coalition politicians over what some of them have described as 'woke' or 'left-wing' technologies, particularly after it was revealed that solar energy mitigated about $20 million in damages and losses after the toppling of a power pylon that causes outages to 88,000 Northland homes last year. 'I think having Simon Watts as the energy minister makes a big difference as well. There was a sense in the sector that Simeon Brown, the previous energy minster, was somewhat ideologically opposed to some of these clean and green technologies … although, even that sounded like it was starting to shift as the benefits became apparent.' Mike Casey says the Machine Count project was a case of 'you can't change what you can't measure'. The report bridges the gap between big, complicated climate policy that's hard to understand, and the sort of discussions people have in their homes – should they buy an electric lawn mower to replace the old one, or when is it best to get an EV, or put solar on the roof. If Kiwi households upgraded six million of the most easily electrifiable machines, they'd save the country about $8 million a day. And ditching those fossil-powered gadgets and old cars would slash 7.5 million tonnes off carbon emissions each year. Some things are too hard to go after. Getting farmers to swap out their tractors, or unglue people's hands from their barbeques, or get rid of their jet skis just yet is off the immediate agenda. 'When you're talking about electrification, especially with a reasonably traditional Kiwi bloke, then the immediate thing that the conversation moves to is 'I've got no option to electrify my 200 horsepower diesel tractor', or 'electrification of international aviation is still a long way away',' says Casey. 'So it's really important to quantify … you know we've 10 million machines in New Zealand … 8.5 million of them, the technology exists within New Zealand to electrify them right now. A million of them, the technology exists somewhere in the world but for whatever reason they're difficult for us to electrify. And there's about 700,000 machines in New Zealand that the technology just doesn't exist to electrify yet. 'And it's a way of breaking that conversation open to make it less about the 200 hp tractors and more about all the small machines that exist in the home where there's a significant economic and emissions opportunity for our country.' One of the big changes is likely to be gas cookers, both because the price of gas is going up as the resource gets more scarce, and because the toxins released when cooking with gas inside can be dangerous for children. But Casey is quick to point out they're not going after the 1,316,620 gas barbecues in the country – not only are electric versions not really up to speed yet, but they're not used often enough for it to be a priority. 'The other thing we've learnt in this whole electrification discussion is that we don't really want to look at banning things or removing things because it actually creates an allergic reaction from a certain section of society which is unproductive for the overall electrification message.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
RNZ News
09-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
The electricity evangelist spreading the solar message
Woman with Morrison's lawnmower Photo: Hawkes Bay Knowledge Trust Mike Casey is an electricity evangelist, spreading the word from his fossil-fuel-free cherry orchard in Cromwell. He's the CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, which has just released two reports - the first is a machine count of all the household items people could (and, the organisation says, should) convert to electricity; the second is a policy manifesto which sets out 59 ways to move towards an electrical utopia. In a political world where climate change issues don't appear to have a high priority , Rewiring Aotearoa's efforts could have fallen on deaf ears. However, says Newsroom senior political reporter and climate change writer Marc Daalder, the new energy minister Simon Watts has confirmed he's open to adopting the policy marked as the most important - making electrification loans accessible to everyone. The idea would be to use the high credit ratings of councils to leverage low-interest loans to install home solar panels. Daalder says such a scheme wouldn't put the debt on council balance sheets, and it would mean the government wouldn't have to put up much money to do it either. "Central government would only have to stump up for the set-up costs which would be two to six million dollars, so for someone like Simon Watts who really does want to see a deployment of solar, it's a great cost of living policy because it helps people reduce their energy bills, and that's one of the big growing aspects of our household bills at the moment." Daalder says not directly having to subsidise solar but still giving the industry a big boost is pretty appealing for the government. It doesn't need to plough billions into it because it's being consumer-driven and the economic case for the change is transparent as it is - there are just smaller failures around financing. He says it's fair to say this government doesn't have a great record on climate policy. "I think that Rewiring [Aotearoa] has done a good job of finding a niche where actually maybe there can be some progress from the government." And he detects a change of heart in coalition politicians over what some of them have described as "woke" or "left wing" technologies, particularly after it was revealed that solar energy mitigated about $20 million in damages and losses after the toppling of a power pylon that caused outages to 88,000 Northland homes last year. "I think having Simon Watts as the energy minister makes a big difference as well. There was a sense in the sector that Simeon Brown, the previous energy minster, was somewhat ideologically opposed to some of these clean and green technologies ... although, even that sounded like it was starting to shift as the benefits became apparent." Mike Casey says the Machine Count project was a case of 'you can't change what you can't measure'. The report bridges the gap between big, complicated climate policy that's hard to understand, and the sort of discussions people have in their homes - should they buy an electric lawn mower to replace the old one, or when is it best to get an EV, or put solar on the roof. If Kiwi households upgraded six million of the most easily electrifiable machines, they'd save the country about $8 million a day. And ditching those fossil-powered gadgets and old cars would slash 7.5 million tonnes off carbon emissions each year. Some things are too hard to go after. Getting farmers to swap out their tractors, or unglue people's hands from their barbeques, or get rid of their jetskis just yet is off the immediate agenda. "When you're talking about electrification, especially with a reasonably traditional Kiwi bloke, then the immediate thing that the conversation moves to is 'I've got no option to electrify my 200 horsepower diesel tractor', or 'electrification of international aviation is still a long way away'," says Casey. "So it's really important to quantify ... you know we've 10 million machines in New Zealand ... 8.5 million of them, the technology exists within New Zealand to electrify them right now. A million of them, the technology exists somewhere in the world but for whatever reason they're difficult for us to electrify. And there's about 700,000 machines in New Zealand that the technology just doesn't exist to electrify yet. "And it's a way of breaking that conversation open to make it less about the 200 hp tractors and more about all the small machines that exist in the home where there's a significant economic and emissions opportunity for our country." One of the big changes is likely to be gas cookers, both because the price of gas is going up as the resource gets more scarce, and because the toxins released when cooking with gas inside can be dangerous for children. But Casey is quick to point out they're not going after the 1,316,620 gas barbeques in the country - not only are electric versions not really up to speed yet, but they're not used often enough for it to be a priority. "The other thing we've learnt in this whole electrification discussion is that we don't really want to look at banning things or removing things because it actually creates an allergic reaction from a certain section of society which is unproductive for the overall electrification message." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
