Toast Electric

GASssssssss.

Anyone get a notice of a huge increase in their gas bill for November. We've seen one for a 25% jump!!!!! That is bat s**t crazy. Gas suppliers have you over a barrel as there's not much competition out there. Plus the bundling is anti competitive.

Getting off gas is the only way to go but that’s pretty expensive. Let us know if you've seen an increase too. We'll take it higher as this smacks of price gouging.

We're here at Home and Garden Show at Sky Stadium today and Sunday talking about power for good. Come on down and have a chat. Also talking about our healthy homes services and Curtain Bank.

Hey Toasties: There's a new set of rules coming out of the Electricity Authority that all retailers must meet by Jan 1 next year.

The "Consumer Care Obligations" (CCO) set standards for how retailers must work with their customers around issues of debt, disconnection, medical dependency, and other issues. It's a brilliant step forward. Thanks Elec Authority and the many advocates and industry folks who have got us here.

Anyway, while it's prob as dry as Toast :-), there is an opportunity for everyone to have their say on what's in the CCO. If you'd like to have a hand in shaping the future of how us retailers should be working with households (at a bare minimum), then the EA has produced this natty and helpful doc. It lays out the main points and how to send in your comments.
https://www.ea.govt.nz/documents/5425/Consultation_quick-guide_for_consumers.pdf

You've probably heard a bit on the news about radically high wholesale power prices over the past couple of weeks. And how they could affect the cost of your power bill. Well, no panic (just yet :-), as Toast, like many other retailers has longer term price agreements that shield us from sudden steep price hikes.

But we reckon, these price hikes continue to show the current electricity industry setup isn't designed with households best interests at heart. And we'll continue to do everything we can at the table and outside in the streets to get a fairer energy future for all.

If you've got any good ideas we can talk to the regulators and industry about - shoot them through

RNZ has had some good opinion clips. Take read/listen if you're up for some enlightenment on electricity.

A New Zealand electricity market explainer

In our healthy housing work through Toast and Sustainability Trust, we visit a lot of folks in poor quality private rental housing who have health issues associated with unhealthy housing. Frequently when we find issues with the house, they'd rather we don't advocate to the landlord as they are worried about the kickback.

This article from the SpinOff is a good reminder how important good social policy is to protect and empower folks who have less power and assets. It's about dignity, equity, and compassion.

Submissions on the proposed bill to bring back No Cause Evictions have closed, but you can still contact Renters United to see how you can help bring about a fairer society for us all.

How no-cause evictions make a farce of healthy homes standards

Welcome | Toast Electric Welcome to the little energy company with a big heart. Plug into Toast Electric and you can be saving power and money in your home while helping eliminate energy hardship in Wellington.

It's bigger than just changing light bulbs (but also change let's change the lightbulbs while we're changing the world).

Welcome | Toast Electric Welcome to the little energy company with a big heart. Plug into Toast Electric and you can be saving power and money in your home while helping eliminate energy hardship in Wellington.

🌟 Toast is making a real difference this winter! 🌟

We're on a mission to support families struggling with power during these cold months. Every person we bring on board means more help for whānau in need.

Please spread the word and join us in making a difference. Together, we can warm hearts and homes this winter. 💖

'It transformed our winter': How a new power company is changing lives A warm-hearted power company uses surplus from regular customers to help others.

Its cold out! Bills can be shocking. David who leads our healthy homes team says "These oil column heaters can be surprisingly expensive to run. At around 60c/hr if they are on all day they can set you back $400 for one heater over a month. Keep warm but keep doors closed, draughts out, and use these puppies carefully." If you're on a tight budget, you'll want to only heat the rooms you're in. And this summer see if you can get a heatpump installed. They can be one quarter the cost to run than one of these energy vampires.

We've been working with an awesome team of community advocates to help government and the power industry to help those struggling with power costs and supply. The group has created this petition to the Electricity Authority to ban disconnection fees, keep pre-pay costs down, and make the Consumer Care Guidelines mandatory (this one looks like it's getting across the line).

If you've got a spare minute, please help us get 4000 signatures and we'll get this to the Electricity Authority in the next few weeks. Thank you🔥🏠

Protect families struggling with power prices Electricity is an essential service, necessary for health and wellbeing. Most of us rely on it to stay warm, cook dinner, do our homework and keep the lights on. But lack of action from the regulator - the Electricity Authority, who sets the rules for electricity retailers - is causing unfair hardsh...

Great to catch up with Chris Hipkins, Barb Edmonds, Ginny Andersen, and Kieran McAnulty at Sust Trust today. Toast is part of the Trust family of support for low-income households that includes Curtain Bank, Warmer Kiwi Homes (insulation and heating), and our home advice and intervention programmes such as Well Homes and Warm Fuzzies.

The MP's assured us they would all sign up to Toast😍😍😍😍

Sustainability Trust is running a winter drive to support our Curtain Bank. Toast's Energy Wellbeing customers can access this service to get double-lined curtains for their whare. We provide a complete home assessment and do a measure up if curtains are needed. Quality curtains make a huge difference to keeping the house warm. If you can spare some cash before mid June, the folks at Genesis Energy (one of the Curtain Banks main supporters) will match it dollar for dollar. Plus it's all tax-deductible!

Wellington Curtain Bank Make a donation today to support the Wellington Curtain Bank

Hey Toasties

Transpower (the folks who run the main elec grid) have said there could be power outages tomorrow morning (7-9am) due to cold weather and low power generation (not much wind). So they are asking to delay non-essential power use to later in the day to help us all keep the power on.

If you have any medical equipment which needs power over this time, take a look at your emergency plan, just in case there are power cuts over this time. And any concerns please get in touch. Keep warm folks - might be best to stay in bed tmrw morning😎

Transpower suggests ways to save power as possible cuts loom Friday morning Transpower is worried about a possible electricity shortfall, and is asking people to reduce use between 7am and 9am on Friday.

Winters coming - again! Weve been a bit quiet on socials but working hard over the past few months securing electricity supply and getting the funding and financial ducks in a row. Thanks to some awesome individuals and organisations we're almost ready to kick off, invite more Toasties on board and support more folks in our region keep warm over winter.

As ever if your friends, family, workmates, local shopkeeper wants to do good with their power dollar, tell them about Toast. And let's create an Aotearoa where everyone has the power they need.

Did you hear the recent great news from the Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko?

Toast has been working with a consortium of community, research, and social service agencies to get the Consumer Care Guidelines for household electricity to be made mandatory, and we see people power making a difference!

From next year, all electricity retailers will be required to meet minimum standards in how they work with households and especially those struggling to afford power. Toast will continue advocating that all retailers use their financial and soft-power to go even higher – ensuring that no-one has to choose between heating and eating.

Electricity retailers required to provide basic protection for customers Mandatory protection includes how companies should act when considering disconnecting a customer for not paying their bill.

Last winter (Jun/Jul/Aug) we provided a 50% discount on electricity for all our Energy Wellbeing customers. When you're on a limited income, cutting down on heating is one way to keep the finances under control. We hoped customers would feel more empowered to use more heating over winter due to the halfprice elec.

Felipe has been doing a whole load of data crunching to see if folks were using more heat, by comparing previous years usage and the energy used by our regular customers. Early results show that the discount has resulted in more energy use over winter, which is excellent! Still more data and conversations to be had to reach final conclusions. But we all know that energy costs, poor quality housing and appliances, and low-incomes are what causes energy poverty. So lowering the elec costs, upgrading homes, and providing expert advice on finances from our referral partners is one way to help everyone keep their homes warm and dry.

Happy New Year! Most of us at Toast are back in the office, here in sunny Tory Street, after a few weeks off - ready for another year of fair energy for all, and creating a world where energy poverty is a thing of a dark unenlightened past 😎

For a small country, New Zealand has a complex electricity system including just under 30 lines companies, 20 retailers, multiple generators (and generator-retailers), and an electricity market run by the NZ stock exchange. There is a whole lot of money being made in electricity out of our shared natural resources and we believe the benefits should be shared equitably rather than flowing solely to those in positions of influence and wealth. It's a big job to turn this ship around, but Kiwis value fairness and we have the energy to bring about change.

If you're interested in some energy info, check out this website https://app.em6.co.nz/?planningregion=usi It shows the current wholesale costs of power (how much Toast and all retailers are paying the generators every 30 minutes - FYI it's very high atm) as well as how much of the generation is renewable and the carbon emissions. The very high prices (today and last few months around 20c/kWh vs long-term average of 8c/kWh) may show that hydro generators are expecting a dry summer, so are holding their water back (in expectation of even higher prices later!).

The electricity market is a dark art, but the fact that we have set up an electricity system like this reflects a philosophy, that "the market" will provide the best outcomes for us. But a system so removed from the people it serves, and operated by those who will never experience power poverty themselves is broken. Toast and our friends and partners want to fix this.

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Give the gift of power this Christmas 🥰

Switch your electricity to Toast and join the movement to eliminate energy hardship and stop corporate profits.

Enjoy great rates and a free home energy assessment, secure in the knowledge that every cent we make goes to support the power bills of low-income families in our community.

If you are already a customer, please consider sharing this with a friend or family member. The more folks we have on board with Toast, the more low-income households we can help with lower power bills, and assistance to create a warm dry home.

We’re all about creating a community-led solution to energy poverty. It relies on good people doing simple things like getting your power from Toast.

Let’s show the power of community – Use your Power to do Good 🧡

👉 Visit our Toast website for all the details - https://www.toastelectric.nz/ - and don't forget to sign up for our Toast newsletter too

Last week we had our annual Strengthening Communities Hui in Otepoti/Dunedin. It's an annual gathering of the main sustainability-focused community enterprises in Aotearoa. These being Community Energy Network, Envirohubs Aotearoa, Zero Waste Network, and Para Kore. Sust Trust and Toast sent a team of 5 down to the deep south, and we wrapped our heads and hearts around solutions to the crises our communities, whanau, and natural world are facing.

At Toast, we're focused on leading by example, and demonstrating there are alternatives to corporate BAU when it comes to an essential resource like electricity. Locally-based community solutions run by locals are essential. It's a YIMBY from us (Yes In My Back Yard) 🤩

Toast Electric Toast Electric- the little energy company with a big heart.

Plug into Toast Electric to save power

We got a shout-out in the most recent edition of https://northandsouth.co.nz/2023/11/13/are-the-big-four-electricity-generators-ripping-us-off/ You have to pay the sub to read the full article and find our mention☺️. But the gist is that there are big profits being made in the industry which flows thru to higher prices for households. One of our local partners https://wellingtoncitymission.org.nz/ talks about luckily being able to refer their low-income clients to Toast's Energy Wellbeing programme, for lower pricing, home checks and support.

We reckon that social retailers like Toast need to grow so we can challenge the current market-domination and provide some community alternatives. Toast returns every cent to supporting our low-income customers. Tell your friends and family to sign up to Toast and we can use Power to do Good.😍

Wellington City Mission Welcome to the Wellington City Mission Wellingtonians are very proud of our city, the Coolest Little Capital in the World. While it is a great place to live, work, do business and to raise a family, for many it isn’t. For many Wellingtonians, reality is different and life is hard. Whether you are ...

Our Fair Energy Manager, Phil Squire, was recently interviewed by RNZ for a report exposing the inequities in the energy sector and how Toast Electric is working to address that by reducing power bills for low-income households struggling to heat their homes during the colder months. Click below to listen to the interview!

Wellington social enterprise helps residents pay power bills A social enterprise in Wellington is helping residents pay their power bills. Toast Electric uses its profits to cut bills for households struggling to afford heating and hot water during winter. And while experts welcome the move, they say regulation is needed to ensure fairness in the electricty m...

An energising couple of days at the Go Green Expo last weekend. Lots of conversations about community energy responses and the power of locals taking care of locals. Toast and Sust Trust's Sustainable Homes services shared a stand. We reckon that between electricity supply, sustainable homes advice, insulation/heating/ventilation installs, free curtains, advocacy, climate action, and our community of partners we'll make sure that everyone gets a fair deal as we move towards a low-carbon, fair energy future.

The Toast team will be at Go Green Expo at the TSB this weekend in Wellington on the waterfront (Sat & Sun 4-5 November). Come along and have chat about all things electric and how getting on board with our NFP retailer can level the playing field for everyone. A Fairer Energy Future for All!

Toast Electric Toast Electric- the little energy company with a big heart.

Plug into Toast Electric to save power

Vote for Toast🙂 Whether you lean to the right, left, up, down, or in the middle, joining up with Toast is democracy in action. As a community enterprise we're using the power of your energy spend to being about social equity. Voting with your heart, savvy, and your dollar can fix energy hardship🤩

Kia ora Toasties

It's been a while since we posted. We've been mad busy behind the scenes. We'll shortly be sending out our quarterly Toast enews (Sliced Bread 😁) with updates on Toast, our customers, the Energy Wellbeing programme and more.

We're currently sitting just under 500 total customers in Wellington, Kapiti and Horowhenua and this spring we need more folks on board!

Toast is the only not-for-profit electricity retailer in Aotearoa and currently have 80 whanau on board our Energy Wellbeing programme. These are households in energy hardship or can't get power from anyone else, who have been referred by one of our partner social, health, or iwi organisations. We've been able to provide home assessments, free interventions, and over this past winter a 50% discount on electricity in June, July, August. For folks living in cold homes, lower power costs give confidence to be able to heat more at the same or lower cost.

If you love what Toast does, please share this post, and talk with your friends and family. The more folks that are signed up to Toast www.toastelectric.nz , the more we can do in creating a fairer energy future for all.