A new campaign urging the government to invest in ‘Local Energy Hubs’ has kicked off today voiced by three regional Australian farmers' experience with the shift to renewable energy - including Singleton farmer Sophie Nichols.
RE-Alliance has today released a short film demonstrating the need for Local Energy Hubs: local outreach centres in energy shift regions staffed by trusted local experts, who can answer the questions being asked by their local communities. The campaign tells Sophie Nichol’s story alongside those of Wellington merino wool farmer Tony Inder and Narrabri farmer and Managing Director of Geni.Energy, Sally Hunter.
The first regional screening of the short film will take place in Singleton at 5pm tonight, Wednesday 14 August, at the Singleton Library, followed by a short information and Q+A session.
RE-Alliance, Community Power Agency and Yes2Renewables have joined forces to call on the Federal Government to fund Local Energy Hubs for regional communities in the upcoming Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Local Energy Hubs would:
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Provide easy access to facts in local communities by hiring trusted and experienced local experts, across subjects such as renewable energy developments, transmission projects, home electrification and battery storage, electric vehicles and more, tailored to the region
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Serve as outreach centres, providing services to support communities in understanding and participating in the shift to renewable energy
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Be a crucial touchpoint for developers, helping to foster trust in communities for their projects through quality communication and engagement.
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Address barriers to the electrification of households, small businesses and farm businesses such as lack of time or quality advice
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Tackle complex challenges like ensuring communities know exactly how to have input into large-scale projects proposed for their regions.
Singleton farmer Sophie Nichols said she was the fourth generation to farm her family’s land in the Hunter and could see how renewable energy could help the region in a post-coal future.
“I would say to any farmer, young and old, invest in renewables because it’s something that can lower costs and will ensure that the farm is much more resilient into the future.”
Sophie shared her family’s story of investing in a solar panel and battery system to lower their energy bills.
“Farms are big energy users and I can’t see producing food becoming any cheaper. The number one reason for getting the solar and battery system was to lower energy bills and it has done.”
But Sophie said the process was confusing.
“Farmers are time poor. If we had somebody in my town that I could go to who was knowledgeable within the energy space, it would’ve cut the length of time we had to spend on researching.”
RE-Alliance National Director Andrew Bray said: “Australians support our move to renewable energy, but our understanding of how far we’ve come, where we’re heading and what needs to happen to get to the end point is almost non-existent,” Mr Bray said.
“From hosting a large-scale solar farm on existing grazing land, to working out how to install the best solar and battery system for on-farm use, to filling an empty shop front to build local knowledge around renewables - all three stories in this film show how Local Energy Hubs could have made each journey easier,” he said.
“We need governments to proactively support and resource communities to understand, participate in and benefit from the energy transformation - and we think Local Energy Hubs could be a big part of the solution,” Mr Bray said.
For more information on Local Energy Hubs head to www.localenergyhubs.org.au.
Local Energy Hubs film screening in Singleton details:
What: Film screening (6 mins), followed by an info-session (10 mins) and Q+A
When: 5pm Wednesday 14 August 2024
Where: Singleton Library Meeting Room, 8 - 10 Queen Street, Singleton, NSW
Other upcoming screenings:
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Valentine (Lake Macquarie)
Saturday 24 August, 1-4pm
Valentine Community Hall - 20 Allambee Pl, Valentine NSW 2280
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Raymond Terrace (Port Stephens)
Friday 30 August, 2-4pm
Library Courtyard - 18a Sturgeon St, Raymond Terrace NSW 2324
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Newcastle
Saturday 31 August, 5-6:30pm
Hamilton Community Hive - 152 Beaumont St, Hamilton NSW 2303
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Media can access a high resolution version of the short film mentioned above for use in stories here.
Hi-res images from the film can be accessed here.
About RE-Alliance: RE-Alliance is working to secure an energy transformation that delivers long-term benefits and prosperity for regional and rural Australia. They do this by listening to the needs of communities, facilitating collaboration across the renewables industry to deliver social outcomes and advocating for meaningful engagement and benefits for regions.
Contact details:
For media inquiries and interviews please contact Kitty Walker on 0438 900 117 or kitty@re-alliance.org.au Or Dan Veldre on dan.veldre@climatemediacentre.
