New report spotlights positive impact of energy efficiency on subduing electricity demand, despite growing population, economy
- Ecobulb
- Nov 8, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 21
New report spotlights positive impact of energy efficiency on subduing
electricity demand, despite growing population, economy.
Media Statement from Ecobulb Limited
November 8 2024
A new report says energy efficiency has been a significant factor in subduing power
demand and therefore household bills over the past 20 years.
The Concept Consulting report* accurately states that demand growth in recent
decades has been muted by energy efficiency, and the exit of some industrial load.
“Energy efficiency reduces the amount of electricity required to power lights, heaters
and motors and therefore lowers power bills, which is a very good thing. This is going to
be even more important as we approach next winter - Transpower** has already
highlighted concerns about 2025 security of supply risk.
“But the journey toward energy efficiency is only half complete and, with the right
incentives, more savings are achievable in the next 20 years”, says Chris Mardon,
managing director of Ecobulb, an energy efficiency company.
“Replacing all inefficient light bulbs in New Zealand homes with LEDs would reduce
carbon emissions equivalent to taking all cars off New Zealand roads for a year, and
reduce New Zealand’s peak load by the equivalent of a Hamilton-sized city,” Mardon
says.
The Concept Consulting report was commissioned by the Electricity Retailers
Association of New Zealand (ERANZ) to highlight a net extra 1.4 GW of generation
capacity, a 16 percent increase.
“While there’s nothing wrong with more generation to meet higher peak loads, the fact
is that building new power stations takes a long time and is expensive. It also requires
more investment in power lines and other network infrastructure to move all this extra
electricity.
“Energy efficiency is a much cheaper option than building expensive new power
stations, but is often overlooked.”
Mardon says that householders and businesses should be incentivised to invest in low-
energy devices such as LED lights and heat pumps, which use less electricity than old
technologies.
“Replacing all 29 million inefficient light bulbs in New Zealand homes with LEDs would
reduce the electricity network winter peak load by 340MW and consumer power bills by
$176 million per year,” Mardon says, citing research***.
Incentives could be applied through the Commerce Commission, the Energy Efficiency
and Conservation Authority (EECA), or the Electricity Authority.
“Rolling out various low-cost energy saving measures to 1.5 million New Zealand
homes could save kiwis $1 billion a year in power, with a four-month payback based on
energy savings.
“Upgrading inefficient lighting in SMEs with efficient LEDs would save the equivalent
amount of electricity used by the Nelson/Marlborough region, at a third of the cost per
MWh of electricity generated by building renewable electricity generation, while also
delivering valuable peak load reductions to help keep the lights on in winter.
“Energy efficiency is a no-brainer, and not just because it lowers energy volumes and
power bills.”
For more information
Chris Mardon, 021 041 2981, chris.mardon@energymad.com
* 2024-10-11-Past-and-future-generation-pipeline-Concept-Consulting-web.pdf
**Security of Supply Outlook_30Sep2024.pdf
***Concept Consulting. Evaluation of the economic and environmental benefits of a programme of significant LED uptake proposed by Ecobulb. February 2023 update.
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