Green Drinks: Earthquakes, Energy & Queenstown's Future

If you purchased a ticket to this event before 28/09 the date and venue have changed

DATE: Tuesday, 27 October

VENUE: Arrowtown Community Centre, Jack Reid Park

TIME: 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Green Drinks: Earthquakes, Energy & Queenstown's Future

What happens to Queenstown’s energy supply when a major earthquake hits?

Queenstown’s location and mountains are beautiful, but that same geography means we’ll be very vulnerable when things go wrong. A major earthquake is likely to damage roads, power infrastructure and other essential connections, leaving Queenstown cut off and without grid power for weeks or months.

So, how prepared are we really? How long could Queenstown be without power or fuel, what would that mean for our homes, businesses and emergency services, and what can we do now to make sure we’re better prepared?

Join us for an evening exploring Queenstown's energy resilience. Where we are now, what could happen in a major earthquake, and what a more resilient energy system looks like for our future.

What we'll cover

We'll hear from people working across energy, infrastructure, emergency preparedness and community resilience about:

Queenstown's energy lifelines: How electricity gets into the region, where the vulnerabilities are, and what could happen if critical infrastructure or transport routes are damaged.

The earthquake scenario: What a major Alpine Fault earthquake could mean for Queenstown and how long the region could potentially be without normal energy supplies.

Our roads and other lifelines: What happens when the infrastructure we rely on to move people, fuel, equipment and supplies is disrupted?

Being better prepared: What households, businesses and communities can do now to prepare for a prolonged disruption to electricity and other essential services.

The future of Queenstown's energy system: What opportunities are there to make our energy system more resilient, local and adaptable and what role could technologies such as solar, batteries, electric vehicles and other distributed energy resources play?

Who needs to be involved: How can electricity networks, councils, emergency services, businesses and communities work together to build greater resilience?

The programme

An introduction: By your facilitator, Trent Yeo.

Speaking Session 1: Earthquakes, Energy & Queenstown’s Future by Josh Ellison (Queenstown Electrification Accelerator)

Speaking Session 2: Kingston CRG & Energy Resilience by Jenny Geelan (Kingston Climate Resilience Group)

Panel & Q&A: Facilitated by Trent Yeo, with Josh Ellison, Jenny Geelan, Dr Steve Batstone (QEA), Dr Leslie Van Gelder (Climate Reference Group) , Bill Nicholl (QLDC).

The speakers

Trent Yeo is a Queenstown-based tourism sustainability practitioner and co-founder of Ziptrek Ecotours, which has operated as a net-zero carbon business since 2019. He has worked across climate resilience, sustainability, destination management and community initiatives, bringing a broad systems perspective to the challenges facing Queenstown’s future.

Josh Ellison co-leads the Queenstown Electrification Accelerator. He helped establish the non-profit Rewiring Aotearoa and has led its research, strategy, and innovation work since establishment. This work has included deep analysis on solar and batteries, new energy resilience opportunities like Vehicle-To-Grid, and weather analysis to answer every energy nerd's favourite question "what about when the sun doesn't shine".

Jenny Geelan is Group Lead of the Kingston Climate Resilience Group, bringing a community perspective to conversations about how smaller and more remote communities can prepare for disruption and build resilience.

Dr Steve Batstone co-leads the Queenstown Electrification Accelerator and has more than 25 years’ experience working across New Zealand’s energy system. His work spans New Zealand's energy markets and electricity system, including demand flexibility and the role of distributed energy resources in a more resilient energy system.

Dr Leslie Van Gelder is Chair of the Queenstown Lakes District Climate Reference Group and Co-Chair of the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, with a background in archaeology, climate change and the relationship between people and place. Her work across climate resilience, conservation, heritage and community-led initiatives brings a long-term perspective to how the Southern Lakes can prepare for environmental and other disruptions.

Bill Nicholl is the Resilience & Climate Action Manager at Queenstown District Lakes Council. He leads on emergency preparedness, climate resilience and biodiversity regeneration in Queenstown Lakes, and brings a local government perspective on preparing Queenstown Lakes for natural hazards, climate impacts and disruption to essential services.

Whether you're interested in emergency preparedness, infrastructure, energy, climate resilience, or simply want to understand what a major earthquake could mean for your household, this is a conversation for you.

Free but registration essential