Electric Waiheke:  Vote in the Entrust election for cheaper, cleaner and more resilient power

A feature for Gulf News on the Electric Waiheke!  event held at the WRT Sustainability Centre on 10 October

The demand for community generated electricity came through strongly at an Electric Waiheke public meeting last week at the Sustainability Centre, hosted by More for You, Better for Auckland on the first day of voting for the leadership of New Zealand’s largest community energy asset owner, Entrust. 

Guest speaker Dr David Hall, Rewiring Aotearoa’s co-founder gave a compelling presentation based on Rewiring Aotearoa’s research into the multitude of benefits for communities from investing in roof top solar and batteries. 

“The cost of solar systems have come down so far in price – and increasingly batteries too – that it makes economic sense to invest in rooftop systems to provide security of supply and guaranteed lower power bills.  Our research shows that, as a national average, households can expect an average saving of $4,500 p/a (based on low cost finance now available or $1,500 if finance is at today’s standard interest rates) says Dr David Hall.  “Electrifying homes and private vehicles in communities like Waiheke and all of Aotearoa we estimate will result in $10bn cost savings by 2040, lower emissions, massive efficiency gains in addition to improved well-being for households and whānau”

More for You, Better for Auckland, the independent team running in the election for the 5 Trustees of Entrust, plan to work with Vector to accelerate the rollout of solar and batteries across the city to unlock a low-cost source of power and deliver resilience for communities like Waiheke.

"Islands, like Waiheke are the perfect place to develop community electricity resources, solar and battery hubs, because upgrading the grid there is very expensive for the number of residents, so the economics are even more favourable. An island is ideal for building community structures and systems with new cheaper distributed technologies. An excellent example of the kind of change Entrust needs to be leading but currently isn’t.” says Patrick Reynolds, spokesperson for More for You, Better for Auckland.

Entrust should be supporting the development of a local community group to work through the options, discover their issues like continuity of supply, direct Vector to provide technical advice, and commission external expertise. It is likely there are way better and more cost effective options than simply continuing to expensively super-size the network and doubling down on keeping the island dependent on the national grid with a massive new undersea cable. 

Furthermore Waiheke, is a microcosm of Aotearoa New Zealand, which is a similarly isolated system, working through all the issues for the island of distributed networks with an engaged community, provides for mutual benefit.

Waiheke experiences frequent power outages relying on one cable from the mainland to deliver energy to 5,900 households on the island.  Jason Bryant who attended the meeting recorded 16 power cuts in the last year. “Our community of Orapiu at the far end of the island has just over 100 dwellings. A community grid would give Orapiu grid stability, and be cheaper for Vector to put in place than rewire the area and bring in a new cable from Onetangi. With close to 10% of houses already with rooftop solar, and many having storage capacity, it would make sense to offer the residents low cost energy certainty and resilience”.  says Mr Bryant

Lindsay Jeffs, from Carbon Neutral Waiheke (photo above), facilitated the meeting. “If 1000 properties on Waiheke installed rooftop solar Waiheke would produce enough electricity to meet all its energy and light transport needs. To achieve this by 2030 requires Vector, a community owned energy trust, to fully embrace and support this achievable sustainable  and cost saving  goal. We as a community can do this and be leaders in the field." summed up Mr Jeffs to the meeting.

After 30 years of National party aligned C&R controlling Entrust, this election offers the chance to vote for new leadership to bring focus on affordable, resilient and future-focused electricity system

“The C&R ticket that has controlled Entrust for three decades has resisted innovation and under-invested while overseeing rising energy bills and a dividend that is declining in real terms. In short, the incumbent leadership has dropped the ball, and it is time for visionary leadership.” says Mr Reynolds

More for You, Better for Auckland plans for a widespread rollout of rooftop solar will unlock a low-cost source of power that will boost competition and resilience. “The Australians have figured this out; 35 percent of their rooftops have solar panels,” says Reynolds. “In Auckland, it’s just two percent. If we followed their example and adopted solar panels and batteries at scale we would tap into a source of cheap, renewable power at zero transmission costs.”  We’re exciting about what is possible with Entrust working directly for communities like Waiheke. 

Former Waitematā & Gulf ward Councillor Pippa Coom is one of the 5 More for You, Better for Auckland candidates.  She asked the meeting to help raise awareness about the opportunity to vote. “The incumbents on Entrust control the rules of the election because it is not subject to the Electoral Act. Despite turnout falling to an all time low of 9.6% in 2021 they have failed to modernise the election or extend the short two week postal voting period.  C&R Trustees benefit from an expensive Entrust dividend advertising campaign just before voting starts but ensure Entrust has no budget towards promoting the election.   

“We therefore felt it was extra important to host the Electric Waiheke public meeting to raise awareness of the Entrust election. I’m delighted that on the first day of voting we were able to bring David Hall over to Waiheke for such a well attended meeting at the Sustainability Centre” said Pippa

The Entrust elections are held by postal vote. More for You, Better for Auckland recommends posting voting papers in the self-addressed envelop by Monday, 21 October to arrive on time. Alternatively, you can drop your ballot in the orange ballot bins at 10 Woolworths supermarkets across the city including the Woolworths in Ostend right up until 5pm on election day, Friday 25 October.