Energise Ōtaki Charitable Trust

Energise Ōtaki is the name chosen by the Ōtaki community to represent our goal of becoming a net producer of clean energy and to act as a focal point for community action. How Energise Ōtaki Works: Energise Ōtaki is an ‘umbrella’ concept under which a range of organisations and individuals come together. We support the Ōtaki community to achieve sustainable and affordable energy futures, by encouraging, facilitating and delivering local projects to reduce energy poverty and climate emissions, and recover energy from ‘waste’. Energise Ōtaki’s community-owned solar farm (a national first) provides clean power to Kāpiti Coast District Council and Ōtaki College…and funding to community-initiated projects from food forests to battery inventions. We also set up Kāpiti’s first public electric car charger. With the Sustainability Trust and Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki, we launched Warm Up Ōtaki to help 140 families living in cold houses secure grants for insulation and heat pumps. Our Curtain Bank and Ōtaki Bike Space projects collect, refine and redistribute donated curtains and bikes, while in Repair Cafés volunteers share various fix-it skills. Energise Ōtaki supports energy-focused educational content and is in early stages of projects converting landfill waste into fuel and planting native forest.