Benefits of Local Generation

Being able to generate electricity locally will have a range of benefits for our community now and in the future.

• We will have a more reliable supply and we can help protect ourselves against power shortages.
• We will help boost the local economy through new jobs and new business opportunities.
• We will ensure more of your money stays in the community - at the moment, about a million dollars a week leaves the community to pay its electricity bills. Because MainPower is owned by the community our profits are returned to the community through the rebate in your power bill, and through the other community activities we are involved with. Generating electricity locally means we can keep some of that money in the region.

There are also some considerable benefits to the country as a whole.

• Every extra megawatt of renewable energy installed in New Zealand will improve our energy independence and save the country from burning and importing fossil fuels. For example, a 10MW wind farm would supply 4,000 homes with electricity and displace approximately 550,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over its life span, avoiding the need to import $32 million dollars worth of fossil fuel. The saved emissions are equivalent of taking 5,000 cars off the road or planting 30,000 trees.