I headed up to Auckland last week to attend a conference focused on supporting those who were really struggling to access the energy they needed to live in a warm, dry, healthy home. As you could imagine, with the recent huge leap in vehicle fuel prices, the challenge of staying warm, dry and healthy is getting harder.
A couple of statements I picked up on:
There are over 30,000 pre-paid electricity connections in New Zealand, and the research shows that all of these connections will experience at least once incident of ‘having no power’ supply during the month. Many of these will experience numerous incidents per month of no power.
In June 2022, MBIE released a definition of ‘Energy Wellbeing’ along with 5 key measures. In the latest statistics (before the current fuel price rises), all 5 of these key measures were ‘going backwards’ at a rate of knots: unable to pay utility bills, cold dwelling, energy rationining, presence of dampness and mould, and unable to afford heating.
One stat shared indicated that 900,000 New Zealand families were struggling to pay for the energy they needed.
It was sober listening. But that will not shock those who are reading this, we are hearing about it every day in the news.
What impacted me more deeply, is the irony of my recent travels. Over the past two weeks I have been in the Taranaki, Manawatū and Hawkes Bay, running workshops focused on helping community organisations better understand how they can help households living in cold, damp, unhealthy living conditions. The key message I have been sharing is that temperatures below 16 degrees overnight will start to trigger respiratory ailments. Every degree below 16 degrees exacerbates potential respiratory concerns. And despite my best efforts to share knowledge about energy saving tips, and better household energy management (so that hopefully families can afford a bit more heating), who am I kidding?!
As the cold of winter approaches and overnight temperatures drop, illness increases, hospitalisations increase, the stress of higher power bills increase, and the struggles grow. It’s like an approaching tidal wave that one can’t stop.
I like to think that the knowledge I have been sharing is helping improve people’s ability to cope, but the reality is, the challenges are daunting. I’m grateful for the opportunity to try and help, to share what knowledge we can, but the desire to improve the lives of others is being seriously challenged.
I guess I’m writing this blog as a reality check, to share my concern that currently, giving our best, is not good enough. We must strive to do more.
