Power from the people: Whanganui District councillor proposes leasing roofs for large-scale solar plan

Stage one of the plan would involve negotiating with an electricity provider and a trial of 100 homes.

Whanganui District councillor Michael Law has a grand energy plan, but it will need support from thousands of homeowners.

He is proposing the council sets up a new trading organisation - SolarNet - to install solar panels on people’s roofs.

The electricity not used by the individual household would be sold back to the grid, with the homeowner receiving a rates rebate at the end of the year.

Law told a council aspirations and projects committee the proposal would make the council money, reduce rates bills significantly and help localise energy production in Whanganui.

“And, we do our bit towards climate change,” he said.

According to Law’s report, capital costs are estimated at around $10,000 per household.

An initial target of 1800 households (300 per year) adds up to $18 million in debt funding over six years.

Speaking to the Chronicle, he estimated a $10,000 installation would produce around $2000 in electricity per year.

Council would get a 10 per cent return on investment ($1000), with the rest being knocked off the homeowner’s rates bill at the end of the year.

He said he didn’t want the community to think it was just a case of council spending money.

“We’ll debt-fund small amounts at a time with pre-approved people so we are getting a return on investment from day one.”

Essentially, the council would be leasing peoples’ roofs, Law told the committee.

The first stage would involve negotiating with a provider to buy the electricity and a trial of 100 homes.

It would expand to residential scaling the following year and eventually into farmland and commercial buildings.

The Sustainable Energy Association of New Zealand’s (SEANZ) Kristin Gillies said on paper, investing in solar made economic sense for households and businesses.

Whanganui District Councillor Michael Law. Photo / Bevan Conley

“We commend them (council) for considering a solution that reduces emissions and can save money at the same time.

“However, there are a lot of variables to consider.”

Before anything advanced, Law’s proposal should be thoroughly scrutinised “to make sure it stacks up”, Gillies said.

Law said there were already sources in China for panels and batteries.

The going rate for electricity was currently 12 cents per kilowatt but he said he wanted a minimum of 18 cents.

Councillor Ross Fallen said if the proposal passed, there would be a rush of environmentally-aware people wanting a rates rebate.

“How would you determine who gets it? I would think pensioners would be first of the rank,” Fallen said.

“What’s the criteria for eligibility?”

Initially, people with the largest roofs and most sunshine hours would get priority, to maximise return on investment, Law said.

“You can’t focus on social needs in this situation. You need to focus on business needs and money.”

Deputy Mayor Helen Craig said it was a really unique idea.

The council was looking at the future of GasNet, a council-controlled organisation, she said.

GasNet is a natural gas network and metering business.

“Why couldn’t they be the installer, the buyer of the power, and the seller of the power?”

“That’s the wider picture.”

A business case on the project has been submitted for consideration in the council’s Long-Term Plan for 2024-34.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.