The benefits of going electric in a cost-of-living crisis
Thursday, 16 April 2026
In the face of soaring fuel costs and rising power and food bills, a New Plymouth woman is reaping the benefits of going electric.
Jenni Hammonds, who set about electrifying her life about six years ago, hadn’t bought petrol for six years, and her power bill in March was $13.75.
“I don’t want to rub it in people’s faces, but I haven’t bought fuel in six years, and my power bill is negligible.”
Hammonds was Sustainable Taranaki’s Sustainable Trails co-manager and partners lead, and part of Community Energy Taranaki, a community group established to support residents with electrifying their lives, focused on energy resilience, sharing knowledge and tangible community action.
She said the pressure of rising prices was boosting demand for electric cars and rooftop solar systems, as well as home gardening.
“I think generally there’s an incentive to be slightly more self-sufficient, a little bit less reliant on things you can’t have control over,” Hammonds said.
“It is tough but it is reassuring to have that buffer. Obviously I don’t grow everything but having energy and when things are tight, you can eat from the garden, it does make a difference.”
When she bought her New Plymouth home on a 400m³ section 13 years ago, it had no garden at all, and felt like a fish bowl, overlooked by two-storey houses.
Now, native trees shielded the home from neighbours and all the lawn, save a tiny square, had been replaced with mulched gardens and paths.
Behind the 100m² house, she had raised garden beds, some fruit trees, a garden shed and a hen house, and there was an outdoor bath.
In 2022 she bought 7kwh of solar panels and an inverter for $20,000, paid for with a five-year interest-free “green” loan from New Plymouth District Council, plus a two-year interest-free personal loan.
The panels helped run an electric hot water system and a heat pump, and to charge two EVs.
She also had an electric bike, an induction cooktop, and electric lawnmower and garden tools, all of which she could charge from the solar panels on her roof.
“My barbecue is the only thing I haven’t transferred over,” she said.
It helped that she was good at recycling, upcycling and avoiding waste, she said.
“I am the most frugal person. Half if it is that I have a love for the environment and the other half is just because I am so cheap, so rather than buy something new, where I can, I recycle or make it myself.
“There is a joy when you can make a meal and it is mostly from your garden.”
Now and again, she traded eggs from her three tame hens with a cafe-owning friend for a sweet and sour pork meal.
By reducing her paid work hours, she had time to put into the garden, and for money-saving tasks like preserving fruit, she said.
“When you are working so hard to pay for so much, it’s a bit of a vicious cycle.”
She expected numbers at this year’s Sustainable Trails to be boosted by the cost pressures.
“It happened during Covid, there was a big bump in numbers. I think this is even slightly different from that, it is a real financial pressure.”
Sales of electric vehicles had already soared along with fuel prices, and solar installers were also booked ahead for some months.
Co-founder of Community Energy Taranaki, Steve Francis, said the current fuel and cost of living crunches would make electric vehicle and solar panels even more popular, as people saw the real financial benefits.
One local move that could help make the transition more affordable was a bulk buyers group, being set up by Community Energy Taranaki to give households the benefits of economies of scale.
“It’s not just because of the war in the Middle East. The advantages were all there before, they have just been accentuated.”