If you’re like me, summer is traditionally a time for a recharge, for catching up with friends and family, for spending time at the beach or in the hills.
But this summer has been wet and cold — we’ve certainly been at no risk of sunburn.
We even had to light our fire a few times, dipping into our winter firewood supply and we’re lucky, we can afford the firewood.
I know others are not so lucky.
Electricity prices have risen 12% over the past 12 months, adding fuel to the fire in a cost-of-living crisis and increasing inflation.
People are feeling it acutely here in Ōtepoti Dunedin.
There are many stories of hardship I’ve heard from those working at the front line.
Meanwhile we have a prime minister, who, as he’s proudly stated, is "wealthy and sorted" and disinterested in curtailing the energy companies’ profits.
This is the same prime minister who criticises local government and will no longer visit Ōtepoti Dunedin because he’s afraid he won’t get a positive reception.
That’s no surprise, given the broken promises and the dismissal of our concerns.
Yet for all the rotten weather, we dodged the worst.
We dodged the storms that hit the North Island resulting, tragically, in fatalities.
We’ve had our own share of slips and flooding, the latest back in October 2024, but fortunately there were no lives lost at that time.
The increased frequency and intensity of extreme events, however, does place real pressure on our ageing infrastructure.
In last year’s storms, basic infrastructure like drinking and wastewater plants (which need electricity) were affected.
One thing that we know helps in a crisis situation is having a more local energy supply, something that Electrify Dunedin has been championing.
The benefit of a local energy supply is that it will build resilience and ensure we keep our energy dollar local too.
By producing electricity on our own roofs, or sharing the locally generated electricity, we can save the cost of transmission and with battery storage, keep the lights on and power electric transport when all else goes dark.
There’s an upfront cost for households, however, and this is why we need regulatory change and financing options.
Paying the cost of energy efficiency investment or solar and battery installations through the savings made on energy bills is one simple option that a Ratepayer Assistance Scheme can enable; similarly, a "Clean Power Payment" (grant and loan) is a Green Party policy proposal.
Electricity harvested locally — solar on our rooves, wind power on our hills, hydro from our rivers — gives power back to the people.
Local, efficient, affordable electricity can and should be ours. With a Green government, it will be.
