Mike Casey's electrifying foray into Cromwell local politics

Mike Casey has co-founded and sold two successful tech start-ups in Sydney. He runs New Zealand's first 100% electric farm and heads a national charity working to accelerate electrification.

So why does this entrepreneur turned orchardist want to be a board member on little old Cromwell Community Board?

In short, he wants to make sure the work he’s already been doing trickles down to directly benefit his own community, a town he says is "the best town in the world".

Casey is among 10 candidates standing for four seats on the community board.

As the chief executive of Rewiring Aotearoa, Casey has already worked in the policy space in Wellington and with district councils in the area on electrification. He is a leading advocate for fundamental change in the energy sector but now he wants to make sure he also brings the vision to his community.

"Jumping on the community board is a way that I can bring what I've been doing in this space and what Rewiring has been doing in this space and apply it directly to my town in a way that I think will really benefit them."

He believes the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme is one of the key things that could lower people’s energy bills and increase electrification in the region.

"Council can't solve all these problems, but we can sure as hell make sure we're not standing in the way of this energy transition."

The scheme, included in the proposed Regional Plan, gives ratepayers low-interest, long-term finance to go towards things like Energy Affordability Loans.

"That ultimately allows them to lower their cost of living by swapping out fossil fuels for finance. I think it could be an absolute economic game changer for the whole of New Zealand. If I do this for New Zealand, I want my little town of Cromwell and my district council to be at the forefront of that," Casey says. 

"I want to make sure that farms and small businesses and anyone who owns a rateable property in the CODC is able to leverage that if and when it gets launched.

"If it does come off, it is going to be so revolutionary for New Zealanders. We just need to make sure that our district is one of the first districts to really start capitalising on it."

Casey says electricity grid capacity issues are just an excuse.

"I would really like to be there to help the council navigate some of these barriers because in reality there is a lot that can be done with solar and batteries on places such as the swimming pool ... that will actually reduce the burden on the grid rather than increase it."

"That's a big part of what I want to bring to the table as well, is being able to offer people advice on that. I built a farm with 21 electric machines. I know how to make this work with limited grid capacity, and make it work really well."

Casey wants to contribute to an efficient council that makes the right decisions for Cromwell.

Rewiring Aotearoa is already running the Queenstown Electrification Accelerator aiming to make Queenstown the most electric city in New Zealand, and Casey says there are plenty of places Central Otago District Council could save money on energy including solar panels on public pools and looking at council vehicle fleets.

"There is always a cost-benefit analysis. Some things will work out to be a lot cheaper when you electrify them, some things won't, and it's important that you're ultimately making a decision that's the best economic decision for the ratepayer. But there is, I think, going to be a lot of savings potentially available just by doing things a bit smarter."

He says the council could also help residents save money on energy. 

"Could we make Cromwell the most solar town in New Zealand? Because solar is by far the cheapest energy the customer's ever going to get. So how do we do that at scale? How do we bring down household energy bills and make sure that everyone can heat their homes in winter?"

"Council can't solve all these problems, but we can sure as hell avoid standing in the way of this energy transition."

He believes the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme is one of the key things that could lower people’s energy bills and increase electrification in the region.

With the Cromwell population forecast to grow from 7750 to 12,150 by 2048 Casey wants to ensure the towns culture and community also grows. 

“Being part of that community board is a way of making sure that we really strengthen our community initiatives and activities and groups and clubs so that our town can continue to thrive,” he says. 

“It’s one of the fastest growing towns in New Zealand so it will be nice if we can continue to maintain that feel. 

"We're starting to see a lot of developments being talked about and I think most of the candidates are mainly focused on infrastructure burdens as a result of that. But I think one of the things that's probably missing is just the culture of a town and making sure that people don't get driven out because they can't afford to live here anymore.”

On the topic of affordability, Casey says is any of the community’s endowment land is sold, it needs to favour affordable housing. 

He would like any development in Cromwell to support the town’s worker base and provide comfortable and affordable place to live. 

"How do we adequately use endowment land to make sure housing remains affordable and the cost of living remains affordable in Cromwell? 

"The one thing I don't want to see happen is just the gentrification of our town to a point that, you know, there's no soul left there. I want to make sure that anyone who lives in Cromwell now will be able to choose to stay here forever, and I want to make sure that my kids want to move back here when they've gone out and explored the big wide world."

Casey and his wife have three children, one in early childhood education, one at primary school and one at high school. Then a family of four, the Casey family chose Cromwell when moving back from Australia.  

"We kind of knew we wanted to come back home to New Zealand, but ultimately decided Cromwell was the best town in the world."

His love of Cromwell is why Casey also wants to contribute to an efficient council that makes the right decisions for Cromwell. 

"One of the things that a rather senior MP told me once was that in democracy, you can't pick your team. The best politicians are ones that can work with anybody.

"I just want to make sure that I take the time and energy to learn all of the issues and understand what's going on. And, not everyone will agree with me, but hopefully come up with what I think are the best solutions given the information available, and then bring my strengths to the table, which I think people in Cromwell could really benefit from.

"If I am elected, I will go in there and give it my all. And ultimately learn what needs to be learned very, very quickly."

Casey’s campaign might not be shiny and flashy but that’s because he just wants to get stuff done. 

"There's retail politics and there's wholesale politics,” Casey says. Wholesale politics is getting the stuff done and retail politics is what you say to the voters, and they can often be quite different things. 

"Ultimately, my goal is to get in there and hopefully be a really good wholesale politician where everybody can come to me, I don't have any grudges or anything, I have good relationships with people. We can create the safe space for them and ultimately the right things happen for Cromwell."

He says he doesn’t have enough knowledge to have strong opinions on the likes of Southern Water Done Well, speedway and the racecourse and his main goal if elected is to help make sure the community board and council function efficiently.

"That might not sound like something that will necessarily excite people pre-election, But I just feel like you just don't want to end up with one of these dysfunctional councils where no one gets along and nothing gets done." 

As a cherry farmer, Casey also wants to be a support and a voice for the regional and rural areas of Cromwell. 

"We've got quite a big farming community in this district as well. I am a farmer at the end of the day now, so making sure that I am able to support some of the more rural voices that need to be heard in this space, I think is another thing that I'm pretty passionate about."

The other candidates standing for the Cromwell Community Board are: Rebecca Anderson, Gerald Duncan, Anna Harrison, Gary Kirk, Haemia Melling, Travis Muir, Bill Sanders, Wally Sanford and Jane Smith.