Newsletter – End Of Year 2018

Dear Community Energy Fans,

As the year draws to a close, we thought we’d look back on a huge year for Community Power Agency and the community energy sector. 

We are very proud to have seen the sector grow to 105 groups and 174 projects in 2018, with more government commitments and increasing industry interest in collaboration.

Before the silly season we would like to share some project updates, outcomes and achievements.

Read on for:

  • A snapshot of the community energy sector in 2018
  • A wrap up of our Social Access Solar Gardens project
  • Insights into our project with councils
  • An overview of our community engagement work for a large-scale solar farm
  • Exciting policy projects, and
  • Stories from our work with community energy groups
Energy Archipelago map snapshot

Energy Archipelago: the end… for now

We are very sad that this week the international community energy mapping database, Energy Archipelago, was taken offline by Scene Connect.

The map included data from our own community energy database, so we’re particularly sad to see an international collaboration like this come to an end.

We continue to maintain the Australia database of community energy projects, which you can find at cpagency.org.au/map

C4CE Congress 2017 workshop

Introduction to the Australian Energy System Training


Have you wondered what the Finkel Review is all about? Or why gas prices are so high? Or how we could achieve a faster transition to 100% renewables? CPA’s Introduction to the Australian Energy System Trainings could help answer those questions.

In November and December Community Power Agency is running three training events in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. These trainings, kindly supported by a grant from Climate Action Network Australia (CANA), are tailored for campaigners, community sector workers and volunteers working towards the energy transition.

Three pilot Community Power Hubs for Victoria

Read Nicky Ison’s article about how the Victorian Government’s announcement of three pilot Community Power Hubs is an important step towards helping every community across Australia to have its own wind or solar farm.

The Victorian Government has announced it is piloting three Community Power Hubs in Bendigo, Ballarat and the Latrobe Valley.  It is an important step in the right direction towards seeing the support communities and a range of local actors need to decarbonise, democratise and decentralised our energy system for the benefit of communities and people across Australia. However, more needs to be done to unlock the potential of community energy across Victoria.

Read the full story in One Step Off the Grid here.

‘Energy Landcare’ to tackle rising energy prices

Read Nicky Ison in The Conversation on why Regional Energy Hubs (aka Community Powerhouses) are so relevant in a time of rising energy prices.

There are so many reasons that Regional Energy Hubs and community energy just makes sense, but they can be a little complex to explain.  This article steps through the reasons why this policy and supporting community energy will help households, communities, locked-out energy consumers and more to access the benefits of clean energy and keep power bills down, while prices go up.

Read here for the full story in The Conversation.