In January, our New England Renewable Energy Zone (NEREZ) team received a boost with the recruitment of Heidi McElnea as Engagement Coordinator. Heidi lives within the New England REZ, and she’s been building local connections, facilitating information flow and working on strategies to increase local participation in the renewable energy transition since her role got underway.
We’ve been continuing our collaboration with community groups for support, connection and capacity building.
In March we hosted a community energy information evening with ZNET Uralla and local solar energy company Meralli. The focus of the evening was to walk though different models of community owned energy models and consider the opportunities of co-designing projects with developers. Kim gave an overview of the Haystacks Solar Garden project, a cooperative arrangement that Community Power Agency is facilitating which enables people to purchase a solar garden plot.
We worked with the UNE’s Smart Region Incubator on an Energy Roundtable and Innovation Challenge. Both were very successful, with lots of strategies developed at the Roundtable, and some new start-up enterprises with a renewable energy focus that grew from the Innovation Challenge.
CPA Director Kim Mallee with Kate Hook, Community Engagement Manager for RE-Alliance and Heidi McElnea, CPA Engagement Coordinator.
Councils play a significant role in the renewable energy transition, and we’ve been meeting with Mayors and senior staff to co-design a joint council capacity building workshop which we will hold in August.
Other work has included an initial gap analysis of workforce training, employment and procurement, and taking a proactive role in information sharing with media and stakeholders. We strongly advocate for the importance of community participation in the current consultation around preliminary transmission line corridors at every chance we get. It is exciting to see the transition unfolding in the region and all the possibilities these activities brings to regions. Over the next few months we will continue our work on the ground to improve the social outcomes for communities in the NEREZ.
Locals are best placed to really know a place. Traditional Custodians often have an unparalleled knowledge of a land and its history. Farmers are very familiar with the local climate, the winds, the rocks and the terrain. Those who work in local industries will be aware of opportunities and know the potential challenges. Community groups and residents usually know how people interact and live in a town, where the schoolkids wait for the bus, and what activities will cause bottlenecks and stress. Local people, farmers, businesses and community organisations also have lived experience of any current interruptions or limitations that their existing electricity networks provide.
Little of this can be learned from a desktop study.
That’s why it is essential that local experience and knowledge is fully part of the design for renewable energy projects.
Recently, we heard from the Minns Government that the establishment of electricity infrastructure in NSW’s first two renewable energy zones may be delayed by two years and will cost up to $10 billion. Minister for Energy Penny Sharp cited a lack of community engagement as one of the key reasons for the new timeline.
As someone living in the New England region, it has certainly been eerily quiet on the engagement front since the New England Renewable Energy Zone was declared in December 2021. However, it is encouraging to see the state government recognise the critical role of good engagement, and all eyes will be on the process as consultation on transmission line corridors for the New England REZ starts this month.
Historically, both governments and developers have often fallen short of good engagement, failing to recognise the value of community to a project’s success. They often rolled out engagement based on a “decide and defend” model, and employed authoritative decision-making, obscure jargon, and bureaucratic language buried within small printed notices in newspapers.
Proponents who fail to adequately engage with communities not only slow the shift to renewable energy, they will increase costs and upset communities. They also miss a huge opportunity.
When engagement begins early and is done well, in a way that genuinely incorporates community input and knowledge, locals know that they have been included in the planning process and understand the value they add to a project. Plus, it mitigates the risk for project delays that occur if critical information isn’t factored in at the outset.
Communities may not have all the answers, but they will have a lot of questions! And it is through engaging with these questions that government and developers can improve on their original concepts, or even better, ask communities to co-design projects with them.
Aiming for mere acceptance of a project underestimates the value of community engagement.
At non-profit Community Power Agency, we are concerned with the social aspects of the transition. We want to see how the everyday person as well as impacted landholders can participate in the design of specific projects and how the benefits from the expanding renewable energy industry are being distributed to regional areas.
When it comes to community engagement, a stitch in time saves nine. Any attempt by governments or developers to cut corners will result in neither a fast nor fair transition.
However if planned and executed well, engagement does not necessarily cause delays. Indeed, it is the very thing that could speed projects up.
NSW Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe today announced that consultation will soon begin on the corridor identifying possible placements for the transmission lines that will carry power from the New England Renewable Energy Zone to the Upper Hunter.
This preliminary study corridor for the transmission lines will be approximately 1km wide and will be refined as a result of community consultation undertaken by the NSW Government.
NSW’s EnergyCo is currently preparing a range of materials to distribute to communities in the region to help build an understanding of what this means for them. The New England Renewable Energy Zone was declared in December 2021 and will be an integral part of NSW’s transition to clean energy as aging coal fired power stations are retired.
“We’re keen to see the NSW Government roll out information about preliminary transmission corridors for the New England REZ and start this stage of the consultation process. We encourage people in the area to get involved – it’s a window of opportunity,” said Heidi McElnea, our Engagement Coordinator who is based in the New England region.
“Communities have an innate knowledge of their local area, and we all need to work together to find the best ways to balance planning, people and the environment, as well as the technical aspects,” Ms McElnea said.
We are working in the region to connect local people to the right information, building the capacity of locals to know what an excellent transition can look like. Community Power Agency does this through fostering collaboration, offering capacity building to local governments and community organisations and sharing expertise on community engagement, benefit sharing and local procurement.
There is an interactive map on the New England Renewable Energy Zone website, and it is expected to be updated with the proposed transmission corridor as early as June. That web address is https://caportal.com.au/energyco/rez
Labor’s 2023 Federal Budget has delivered a few hits and a few misses from the perspective of the clean energy transition.
In every context, Community Power Agency looks to the community experience of the energy transition.
Will communities be involved in the process and kept informed? Will local people experience benefits and opportunities, will their needs be considered alongside those of industry and government? Are rural and regional communities included, in the way that urban communities are? Will this contribute to a fairer and faster transition?
It is with these questions in mind that we have assessed the 2023-2024 Federal Budget. Read on to see our take on what works and what doesn’t.
We welcome the investment to support small businesses and households to ‘electrify everything’, and to improve energy efficiency.
This includes the Household Energy Upgrades Fund, which will provide:
$300 million (over forward estimates) for energy performance upgrades for social housing
$1 billion to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation for household energy upgrades in partnership with banks and other lenders to upgrade homes with battery-ready solar PV, modern appliances and other improvements
$36.7 million to expand and accelerate The National Energy Rating Scheme for existing homes, which will help to boost mandatory energy performance rental standards.
Additionally, the Small Business Energy Incentive will offer tax incentives for energy performance retrofits for small businesses, and ACT residents will be able to access concessional loans via the ACT sustainable Household Scheme to electrify or improve energy efficiency of their homes.
These investments provide long term reduction in bills for households, as well as protection from volatility in energy supply, in a way that one-off handouts cannot. It is great to see the Government recognising the benefit of this kind of support, that colleagues, such as the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), have been lobbying for in the lead up to the Budget delivery. With this investment also delivering significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it certainly is a win-win.
We welcome the funding for and legislation of the National Net Zero Authority. The budget includes $83.2 million towards establishing this new very needed body, which will provide oversight and guidance of our clean energy transformation.
The Net Zero Authority will:
Support workers in emissions-intensive sectors to access new employment, skills and support as the net zero transformation continues.
Coordinate programs and policies across government to support regions and communities to attract and take advantage of new clean energy industries and set those industries up for success.
Help investors and companies to engage with net zero transformation opportunities.
The Federal government has highlighted that First Nations groups, alongside industry, unions and state and territory governments will be key stakeholders in the delivery of the Authority’s ambitions. CPA welcomes this pivotal piece in the energy transition puzzle, maintaining that while there needs to be centralised oversight of transition, regional and community voices must also be heard.
We welcome the formal allocation of $12 billion, from the existing $20 billion investment in Rewiring the Nation to go towards transformational transmission projects. Investment in upgrading our transmission infrastructure is critical to our meeting net zero targets and should be done in a way that minimises potential impacts on biodiversity while involving community in the corridor placement.
The transmission investment includes:
$1 billion in Tasmania’s Battery of the Nation projects
$1.5 billion towards Renewable Energy Zones and offshore wind in Victoria
$4.7 billion to unlock critical transmission in New South Wales.
Through our continued work on the ground in regional host communities, in particular the New England region, we have learned that any large scale infrastructure development, be it transmission or renewables projects, must involve and benefit local communities. We continue to advocate for a fair and fast transition to renewables (which includes the necessary transmission) in ways that provide genuine means for locals to participate, have a say and receive tangible benefits.
It is disappointing to see funding measures in the budget which provide over $33 million public subsidies for the continued operation of fossil fuel industries; the world’s largest carbon emitters.
Also incredibly disappointing are the miniscule changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT), which aims to limit the proportion of PRRT assessable income that can be offset by deductions to 90 percent. These projects can currently deduct their capital costs against their tax liabilities, which has resulted in PRRT returning no or little tax revenue from these projects despite generating superprofits ($63bn in 2022/23). The result of a 1% increased share to taxpayers in the words of Tim Buckley is “very pedestrian relative to the LNG export industry’s windfall war-profiteering and oversized contribution to Australian domestic energy price hyperinflation [1].
International experts agree that we need to rapidly scale down the use of fossil fuels, including gas, not just continue its ongoing operation, albeit with small improvements to decarbonisation attempts.
CPA supports budgetary measures which fast tracks Australia to be powered by 100% renewable energy, through processes that improve community involvement and participation in the energy transition.
By investing in energy efficiency in homes, the electrification of everything, a Net Zero Authority and transmission infrastructure, the government is making steps towards a more equitable renewable energy system. It’s a good start, and a workable platform on which non-profit organisations like CPA can contribute to a better energy future.
Over the past decade, regions across Australia have experienced weather events of increasing intensity and frequency. These weather events put pressure on our essential infrastructure such as gas, electricity and water. Climate extremes can also impact our social, economic and emotional wellbeing of communities. Communities who have their basic energy needs met will be better able to respond to these additional challenges. That is why the Community Power Agency has teamed up the Energy Innovation Cooperative to deliver a how-to guide on Resilient Energy Centres (RECs).
A REC is a building that has been equipped with a backup energy system so that it is energy independent in the case of a region being cut off from the main electricity grid. Possible functions of the RECs might be that it is a space for resilience planning and an energy resource for response and recovery. However, ultimately the local communities who are leading on the development of these centres should determine their use, in conjunction with key stakeholders. That way, RECs can be fit for purpose and meet the needs of the community. Importantly, RECs are not a place of refuge, emergency relief or a place of last resort. Those places are specific and managed by state and local authorities trained and resourced to operate them.
Key points of our how-to guide
We walk you through the a-z ofdeveloping a REC.
First things first, community engagement. A REC should be fit for purpose and reflect the needs and values of the community. Our guide walks you through the principles of community engagement and strategies to help garner community feedback, including sample survey questions.
How to identify potential locations for resilient energy centres Every community is different, so we point you in the direction of the people who can help you assess potential locations for a REC. In some cases, you might be able to utilise an existing facility. We detail some considerations that should be given such as accessibility, safety, building requirements and key questions to ask energy system installers.
How to establish an organisational structure Whether you’ve found a host, or you’re building from scratch, you will need to establish an organisational structure to manage the REC. This could be an existing organisation in the community. Or perhaps you might need to establish a new organisation. Our guide walks you through some of the most relevant considerations, such as; organisational structures, the pros and cons of registering with the Australian Charities and Not-forprofits Commission and how you can manage ongoing operations.
Tech support Locking in an installer as early as possible is key. As licensed electricians, they should be able to advise on what technologies or equipment is appropriate for your installation and suggest options for what to choose. Be sure to check out our guide to be across all the most common technologies that are relevant to RECs such as batteries, generators, and the electricity demand of different devices.
Case studies We explore case studies from the Upper Kiewa Valley in Victoria and the coastal town of Moruya and the Hawkesbury region in New South Wales. All REC developments should be approached on a case-by-case basis, and these examples illustrate how different they can be. Each case study explains the type of REC that was developed, funding, lessons learned during the process and community outcomes.
How to fund RECs There are commonly three stages of funding required: feasibility or early community engagement; capital expenditure and installation; and ongoing community activities and system maintenance. There are many different avenues to explore when trying to source this funding. Our guide explores common sources such as crowdfunding, philanthropy, government and private grants, and gifted equipment.
How to determine roles and enable organisations Developing a REC requires many different people and organisations taking on clear roles to contribute to the project’s development and success. Whilst the strength of RECs is that generally they are community led, staff and volunteers from other agencies are available for support, contacts and technical advice. Our guide can help you divide and conquer.
