Raukawa Energy Innovation Project
This project highlights the outcomes of an initiative in South Waikato where temperature sensors were installed in homes to monitor exposure to cold, aiming to address energy hardship through data-driven strategies.
The Challenge: Energy hardship
Energy hardship remains a largely unaddressed issue in Aotearoa New Zealand with over 110,000 households reporting that they could not afford to keep their home adequately warm in 2023. The Raukawa Charitable Trust (RCT) has developed a project in the South Waikato with the purpose of using data to inform their decision-making surrounding their approach to reducing energy hardship across their rohe.
The Raukawa Energy Innovation Project looks to innovate on ways to reduce and subsidise power bills and identify what is required of these interventions to generate positive wellbeing outcomes, while also promoting mana motuhake (self-determination) and tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty) for the Raukawa whānau during the sustainable energy transition.
Raukawa Energy Innovation Project
In early 2023, RCT teamed up with sustainability and social outcomes consultancy The Lever Room to launch the Raukawa Energy Innovation Project. With funding support from Ara Ake, the project partners began recruiting households experiencing energy hardship and installed two MonkeyTronics temperature sensors in each participating whānau home. These sensors helped to measure how much families were exposed to cold indoor temperatures over the winter months.
This report outlines the findings from this pre-testing phase, shedding light on the tough realities of energy hardship in New Zealand. It also emphasises the urgent need for the energy sector and government to adopt equitable solutions and policies, ensuring that those currently being left behind are included in the energy transition.
Read the report
Pre-testing findings
- Almost three in five households (58.1%) reported putting up with the cold during winter to save money.
- Nearly half (45.2%) of participants said their sleep was disrupted due to cold indoor temperatures.
- Three out of five households (58.6%) experienced conditions so cold that parents reported seeing their children’s breath indoors.
- Over half (51.4%) of tamariki needed a GP visit for chest infections, asthma, or breathing issues during the measurement period.
Project aims and expected outcomes
The key aims of this initiative are to:
- Reduce the power bills for approximately 420 households in the Raukawa rohe.
- Test three energy hardship interventions to identify which is the most effective.
- Address household issues related to heating source, ensuring that participating families have an appropriate source of heating in their home now and into the future.
- Promote behaviour change of participating whānau through energy education, supporting an understanding of what is an appropriate temperature in a home and how to manage heat, dampness, and mold.
Next Steps
After completing the baseline study, the project team co-designed three subsidy models aimed at improving health outcomes and supporting whānau wellbeing during the coldest months. These interventions are planned to roll out in Winter2025, and Raukawa welcome new and ongoing partnership kōrero to continue this important mahi.
Raukawa is firmly committed to empowering their whānau to lead healthier lives by eradicating energy poverty. This work demonstrates their strong desire to innovate on methods to reduce power bills and identify what interventions are required to generate health, environmental, community and economic outcomes.
If you are interested in learning more about the Raukawa Energy Innovation Project, contact the Raukawa project team at info@raukawa.org.nz.
