MEDIA RELEASE:

Monday 11th July, 2011

Councils asked to go solar in 'The Solar Promise’ nationwide campaign launched today

The Solar Promise nationwide campaign launched today aims to encourage all New Zealand councils to embrace solar and help protect their communities from the rising costs of electricity and continuing oil depletion.

On behalf of Kiwis facing higher energy costs, the Nelson City Council, Nelson Environment Centre, and SolarCity have launched The Solar Promise, calling for councils, as well as central government, individuals and businesses, to do what they can to make solar more affordable, to help New Zealanders save money and combat climate change.

Today, nine mayors, led by Nelson Mayor Aldo Miccio, held a briefing in Wellington calling for all other mayors and their councils to consider solar options for their communities.

Aldo Miccio says that a 2008 feasibility study carried out in partnership with the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA) and SolarCity showed the government’s solar grant alone was not enough to help communities go solar.

“The study was clear: families want the immediate cash benefits from solar’s savings, but they need to spread the cost of solar for it to be affordable,” Miccio says. “From these needs, the Solar Saver Scheme was born - an innovative rates-based financing mechanism to help home owners spread the cost of going solar. At the time, the Nelson City Council also chose to waive solar resource consents, to further reduce the barriers to solar.

“The Solar Saver Scheme has been a huge success for Nelson,” he says. “In the scheme’s first year Nelson families put more solar systems on their roofs than the whole of Auckland City, immediately getting up to one week’s free power every month.

“We believe the Solar Saver Scheme is a vital policy tool for all councils, to assist their communities to reduce their energy costs, while also helping to maximise the contribution from solar to our nation’s renewable energy target.

“The goal of The Solar Promise is to make solar more affordable, and there are many ways that individuals, businesses and local government can support that happening,” he says. “One way is to go to The Solar Promise website and pledge a promise – to encourage your council to put in a Solar Saver Scheme as part of this year’s long term planning process - that is something we can all do easily to help make change.

“Nelson City Council’s pledge to The Solar Promise is to continue to waive resource consent fees for solar installation, retain the Solar Saver Scheme, and encourage all councils to consider a number of key solar policies in their upcoming Long Term Plan.”

Other Mayors supporting The Solar Promise today include:

• Hastings Mayor, and Local Government New Zealand President, Lawrence Yule, whose council is actively reviewing Nelson’s Solar Saver Scheme for its community.
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• Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown whose council is interested in clean technologies such as solar for Wellington as part of its strategy “Toward 2040: A Smart Green Wellington.”
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• Marlborough District Mayor Alistair Sowman, whose council has committed to the Solar Saver Scheme through its Annual Plan and is running a one-year pilot programme in advance of implementation.
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• Tasman District Mayor Richard Kempthorne, whose council is considering solar as part of this year’s Long Term Plan.
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• Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull, whose council is implementing Solar Saver Schemes this year.
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• Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, Southland District Mayor Frana Cardno and Gore District Mayor Tracy Hicks; whose councils have endorsed their local economic development agency, Venture Southland, to run the country’s first regional solar pilot to debunk myths that solar water heating won't perform well in Southland. Their building control officers have also been trained in best practice for solar water heating installations.
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• Whanganui Mayor Annette Main, whose council is looking at ways to encourage the use of solar power in their community, and is including discussions on the introduction of the scheme in its upcoming 10 year plan process.
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Meanwhile, Auckland City Council’s 250 home solar pilot scheme goes to tender today, with the goal of examining the performance and community support for a Solar Saver Scheme in the Auckland region.

Andrew Booth CEO of New Zealand’s leading solar power company says the goal of The Solar Promise is to promote solar and increase uptake to make solar more affordable for all New Zealanders.

“Few challenges facing our families and communities are more urgent than the rising cost of power for our homes, and the twin crisis of climate change and oil depletion,” Booth says. “New Zealand has a world-class solar resource yet only 35,000* New Zealand homes have solar.

“Councils have a central role to play in tackling climate change – and they are well placed to help New Zealand meet its renewable energy targets, as well as create jobs and reduce energy bills for people living in their community,” he says. “The launch of The Solar Promise comes at a critically important time for the development of solar power in New Zealand, with power prices rising by 74% across the last 10 years and the price of oil at historic highs.

“If New Zealand was to match the same levels of uptake as Israel then our communities and families would be saving half a billion dollars a year and together we would stop 450 million tonnes of carbon entering the atmosphere every year,” he says.

Solar Promise co-founder Grant Jones, CEO of Nelson Environment Centre (NEC) says “The NEC is committed to help build a more resilient community and economy for future generations and this includes more secure, clean and affordable sources of energy. The Solar Promise is an important step towards achieving this.”

Wide support for The Solar Promise

Mayor Aldo Miccio says The Solar Promise campaign has already attracted the support across all sectors: local councils; environmental groups such as Greenpeace, WWF and 350 Aotearoa; industry groups like the Master Plumbers Association of New Zealand, the Sustainable Business Network, the Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand (SEANZ), and businesses such as Kiwibank, Ecostore, and the nation’s largest producer of renewable energy, Meridian Energy.

“When we briefed stakeholders about The Solar Promise, they loved the idea,” Miccio says. “They could see this campaign is not about achieving commercial gains, but is about councils stepping up to show leadership by providing affordable renewable energy options for their citizens. Many businesses are also showing a willingness to step up to promote the uptake of solar.”

Bill Highet, General Manager – Retail, Meridian Energy, says the company supports The Solar Promise as part of its commitment to renewable and sustainable energy.

“Electricity is fundamental to our economy and well-being, and new generation is required to meet growing electricity demand,” Highet says. “Meridian believes that solar will play an increasing role in ensuring we are able to meet the renewable energy targets the government has set and we are very pleased to support this campaign.”

New Zealand-owned bank Kiwibank has also signed up to The Solar Promise at launch.
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