Electric Kiwi Helps Power New Zealanders Towardsa Greener Future With New Green Meter Tool

New Zealand has firmly established itself as a leading player in the renewable energy sector and now Electric Kiwi is advancing its efforts with initiatives to help accelerate the country's transition towards a cleaner, greener future.

According to the Ministry of the Environment, New Zealand’s energy sector is responsible for 40% of gross greenhouse gas emissions*. Electric Kiwi believes that by encouraging kiwis to shift their power consumption to off-peak hours, we can collectively make strides towards achieving a positive, long-term impact on the environment. Their MoveMaster plan incentivises load-shifting by offering cheaper power off-peak and half price power overnight, to incentivise customers to use power when demand is lower and therefore generation is more likely to be renewable.

And with the launch of a new digital tool this month, Electric Kiwi continues to support Kiwis to take control of their power usage and help minimise their environmental impact.

Called the Green Meter, the new tool shows the predicted carbon impact of electricity use in real-time, helping New Zealanders to make more conscious decisions about when to use their power.

All Kiwis can access the Green Meter on the Electric Kiwi website. The MoveMaster plan is the perfect companion to the Green Meter with cheaper prices off-peak, helping customers to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint at the same time.

Electric Kiwi CEO, Luke Blincoe, says the new interactive tool allows Kiwis to learn about the potential effect of their power usage in a broader context and supports New Zealand's leadership in the global push towards sustainable energy.

“The goal is to make it easier for people to reduce their power usage when CO2 emissions from electricity supplies are usually higher.”

“The first part of any behaviour change is awareness. Kiwis want to do their bit, and this arms them with information that can help people make greener choices. The idea is to make it easy to understand the greenest times to charge an EV, run the washing machine or use the air conditioner,” says Luke.

“The term 'greenness' is not a scientific term - but we use it to help customers understand the potential impact of their power usage in relation to the power grid, and how this may affect the environment."

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The power grid is a network of poles and wires that transfers electricity from generation plants to New Zealand homes and businesses. Electric Kiwi refers to the "greenness of the grid" to demonstrate how carbon intensive the electricity being generated across the country is likely to be at any given moment.

"New Zealand is fortunate to have a power grid that's made up of mostly renewable sources such as hydro, geothermal, and wind energy. However, there are still times when fossil fuels are needed to meet electricity needs, and that's where the Green Meter can be quite powerful," says Luke.

So, how does it work? The Green Meter forecasts carbon emission levels up to three days in advance based on historical energy emissions data from Transpower. While the actual carbon emissions vary and may be different than forecasted, on average, they predict the actual emission level for each half-hour period with a variation of ~18%. This means that customers can use the Green Meter to help make decisions about their energy usage.

Much like a Fire Danger sign, the Green Meter displays an easy-to-read arrow that shows the most updated carbon forecast of the power grid during the current time – the greener, the better!

When the arrow points at 'Worsest,' it indicates, based on historical trends, a forecast of more carbon emissions than usual due to nationwide electricity generation sources. 'Betterest' shows a forecast of fewer carbon emissions being produced than usual, and a reading of 'goodish' indicates a forecast of an average level of carbon emissions produced based on historical trends.

The Green Meter is an easy-to-use tool that every Kiwi can incorporate into their lives.

"It's a simple and interactive way to encourage our customers to try to make greener choices. We want to help people understand that the time of day that they choose to use power can have an impact on the environment, and give them tools to help reduce their carbon emissions," says Luke.

Electric Kiwi believes that everyone can make a difference.

To find out more, people can visit electrickiwi.co.nz/greenmeter

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