Community energy activator pilot

Orion collaborated with Ara Ake, Community Energy Network, and others to pilot a Community Energy Activator in Canterbury in 2024. The twelve-week programme covered the topics in Ara Ake's ‘Community Energy How To Guide’ and it was piloted with nine community groups. The purpose was to learn (alongside the Orion communities) about the viability of different community energy models and their impact on Orion and its communities. 

The goal of the Activator was to support a cohort of community organisations from within the Orion Network region, to develop their understanding of how to design, build and manage a community scale energy project in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

For this pilot, designing it as an ‘Activator’ had an explicit goal of not only supporting communities, but also supporting a networks engagement with the communities it serves.

An Activator helps translate communities' energy goals into actionable steps, identifying what’s feasible and what’s needed to make them a reality. Beyond learning, Activators foster collaboration. They create opportunities for communities to build partnerships with like-minded organisations and work collectively with their local lines company. 

This engagement strengthens local capacity for informed consumer choices, supporting the democratisation of energy and other initiatives aimed at enhancing economic, social, and environmental resilience.

The Activator pilot achieved its purpose for Orion. By engaging with communities, Orion gained insights into their energy aspirations and the exploration of customer utilisation of the network, exploring the role of distributed generation, microgrids and demand management, and identifying opportunities for participation. This collaborative approach ensured Orion understood how to balance community needs with network capabilities while developing services that support a more flexible, efficient and responsive energy system. 

For lines companies, Community Energy Activators provide a structured approach to understanding how communities want to use electricity. They offer networks the opportunity to engage meaningfully with stakeholders and test innovative technologies and systems.

As each region strategises to increase electrification, demand on the grid will rise significantly. Activators — and the partnerships they create — will enable lines companies to have productive discussions about necessary grid upgrades or alternative solutions. These conversations can help mitigate price increases for consumers while ensuring a reliable energy supply. While no one wants to pay more, building stronger connections with key stakeholders allows upgrade decisions to be negotiated openly and fairly, fostering trust and long-term collaboration.

 See the full learnings and impact report here. 

Orion continues to work with its communities (and partners) to capture learnings of innovative community energy models, including barriers, post-Activator. The Community Energy Network continues to expand the Activator programme throughout the country as a way of supporting both energy sector participants and communities themselves. In FY26 Powerco also ran an Activator and two more regions are planning to hold their own Activators, showing the scaling of this initiative through New Zealand.