30 July 2026 (PDF)
Community Power Agency welcomes the leadership shown by Clean Energy Council Chief Executive, Jackie Trad, at the Australian Clean Energy Summit this week acknowledging “The fundamental problem the [renewable energy] industry has is trust.” But, building genuine trust and social licence for the energy shift across regional Australia requires much more than passive contributions that go entirely to Councils.
CPA Director Kim Mallee stresses that “Trust is earned through building genuine relationships, behaving as a good corporate citizen and as a reliable long-term neighbour.”
As Ms Trad pointed out, good benefit sharing programs that build trust are cheaper than the delays and opposition facing the industry. Data from the U.S.A. shows opposition-driven delays at approximately US$200,000 per Megawatt (MW) across wind and solar projects due to extended land leases, standing capital costs, and administrative overheads.
A call for a nationally consistent approach for a $/MW rate of benefit sharing funds per energy project would be a welcome help to alleviate the confusion of the currently fragmented policies across states and different levels of government.
A nationally agreed rate of benefit sharing would ensure that regional and rural Australia gets a fair share of the revenue from the investment associated with the energy shift, but must be carefully designed not to create adverse outcomes. Any national guidance must also clearly define and separate funding allocated to Councils for local infrastructure contributions, or Payment in Lieu of Rates (such as in Victoria), as a cost of doing business. This ensures that benefit sharing funds remain separate from (and in addition to) impact mitigation of the development itself.
Trust is built slowly over many interactions with local stakeholders, including Councils and community groups. Regional councils are an integral part of the solution, but also have varying capacities to respond strategically to the energy shift, and deliver coordinated benefit sharing that builds trust directly with host communities and creates legacy outcomes for their LGA at large. Resourcing and training for Councils will be integral.
“Crucial to developing trust is considering how other community stakeholders will participate in the local governance of any national approach to benefit sharing funds”, Mallee emphasised.
Strategically coordinated benefit sharing funds with strong community co-governance are actually what is needed to demonstrate that the “ turbines on the ridge became the reason the pool got built, the main street got fixed, the childcare centre opened” as Ms Trad said.
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Community Power Agency is working with regions around Australia grappling with this problem. In our Guide to Regional Benefit Sharing we unpack the nuances and reasons behind why there is a need for at least two levels of benefit sharing investment needed in rural Australia. One for the neighbourhood and immediate geographic communities that host the infrastructure, as they carry the brunt of the change in the landscape, and a wider regional level that allows for longer term legacy type initiatives serving the community at large.
