​BSFG members and supporters are invited  to a Community Forum about Solar Panels and Home Batteries at 7:30pm, on Thursday 27th April at the Benalla Uniting Church.

​
Brad Foletta from Solargain Wangaratta will be speaking to inform us of the latest developments and state of play in this area, covering these aspects:

1. Introduction – Who we are and our story.
2. How solar works, and what it means to add on a battery to a solar system.
3. The 4 different types of battery options available with rough estimates of the expected costs for each:-  *Solar + Battery with no back up.  *Solar + Battery with partial backup of selected circuits.  *Solar + Battery with full home backup ability.  *Off grid.
4. Warranties and online monitoring abilities – importance of having an internet connection with a battery.
5. Current status of rebates and explaining how they work / eligibility requirements.
6. Question time.

Attendance is free, but for catering purposes, please book your place using the Trybooking link 
https://www.trybooking.com/CHLUE

We look forward to seeing you at this forum which promises to be very informative.

Judy Schwarzman
Secretary, BSFG

On Thursday 30th March Russell Klose from Kilowatt Cars (Yackandandah based supplier of used Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicles (EV's) from Japan) presented a question, answer and drive session to 'a packed house' in the Benalla Uniting Church's general purpose meeting room.  
 
The session started  5.30pm with a talk from Russell about Kilowatt Cars, what they are doing and why, why you should consider buying an EV, how to charge it (at home/on the road), bulk buy opportunities and the advantages of EV ownership-lower running costs, low emission driving etc.
​
After his talk Russell made  vehicles available to look at/sit in and test drive.  A shared pizza dinner provided a valued opportunity to chat with others moving from contemplating to acting on the purchase of an electric vehicle.  

The session continued at 7.30 pm with a question-and-answer session with Russell, a great opportunity for those present to talk with someone who sells EVs, and has travelled over 25,000km in an EV around Australia.

BSFG/REB members and supporters were also contacted to let them know that Russell would be speaking again at "Electrifying Agriculture in Euroa" on Thursday 13th April. Run by Farmers for Climate Action, with Solar Citizens and Euroa Environment Group. the event focused on the benefits of electric cars for farmers, as well as the future of EVs in the regions. Speakers from Farmers for Climate Action and Solar Citizens also spoke, as well as some  local farmers and EV owners.  One of Australia’s first electric utes, an electric farm bike, and other EVs were on site so that attendees could check out the technology for themselves.  

A good news story from the Benalla Rural City news page in the Benalla Ensign on Wednesday 12 April 2023, p2.

EV Charging Station coming to Benalla

"Works to install a public electric vehicle (EV) charger at Benalla's Denny Street carpark are currently underway.  

Council is supporting EV charger company Evie Networks who are installing a 50kW EV charger, servicing two parking bays in the Denny Street carpark.

Council is also finalising negotiations on a separate charging station with Tesla.

The installation of these chargers is in line with Council's commitment to support the community to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions."

Another article - 'Charge up your EVs' - relating to the installation of chargers in Benalla was  published by the Ensign on Wednesday April 5th

You may remember that Wangaratta Council's decision in 2018 to refuse  Esco Pacific's - 140MW @ Glenrowan Solar Farm Proposal (245 hectares - 49,000 homes - $150 million)  was overturned by VCAT on March 24 2019.  Key permit issues for Victorian solar projects were clarified in this judgement.    

On June 1st 2022 developer Esco Pacific announced it had agreed to the sale of the 125MW (dc) Glenrowan solar farm to construction and engineering giant Cimic Group.   Cimic subsidiary, Pacific Partnerships, has ownership of the project, while another Cimic subsidiary, UGL, expects to complete the solar farm by the end of 2023, when operations and renewable energy generation is expected to commence. 

Pacific Partnerships' Glenrowan Solar Farm, which will generate an installed capacity of 130MWdc / 102MWac,  was selected in early October 2022 as one of six new solar farm projects in the Victorian Renewable Energy Target 2 (VRET2) reverse auction process, securing a 10-year power purchase agreement with the state of Victoria in October 2022 for the sale of solar power from the Glenrowan Solar Farm

In mid December 2022 work started at the Glenrowan Solar Farm near Wangaratta to prepare the 245-hectare site for construction next year.  "A small crew is preparing the site, building access and internal roads, installing worker amenities and a laydown area for storage of materials as well as staff parking'. 

​Find out more -  Media Release 13 December 2023 'Site works  underway at Glenrowan Solar Farm'

​Haystacks Solar Garden have announced details of their proto-type Solar Garden Project
 
The Solar Garden project is aimed at Electricity Customers who want to gain the benefits of Solar PV power but have no suitable roof solar access. This includes renters, apartments and any premises that has its solar access blocked by trees or tall adjacent buildings.
 
Customer owned behind the meter PV installations will still give the best returns for those who have suitable sites.
               
Haystacks have set up a part commercially owned (Como Energy Grong-Grong) Solar Farm, 1.5 MW, 4-5 hectare in the Riverina area.  Solar Garden members buy a “garden plot share” at $4200 (equivalent cost of a 3kW PV solar set up).  333 garden plot shares are available for sale.  Cost of the Solar Farm is about $1.4M, plot sales cover about 34%, the remainder being made up by NSW government funding and Commercial sources.  The solar farm output will, at this stage, be sold on the spot market. The chosen site is a high solar output area, low fire and flood risk, and with normal storm and hail insurance and maintenance contracts.
 
Haystacks have entered into a partnership contract with energy retailer Energy Locals, and all plot owners will need to transfer to them.  Plot owners will receive an annual income credit of $505 for 10 years, credited on their electricity bills monthly (just like a feed in rebate, and equivalent of a 3kw PV system).  It is expected the credits will be treated as are feed in tariff amounts as far as tax is concerned.
 
Particularly important is plot owners receive the rebate even when they move (renters), as long as they remain with Energy Locals (every State except WA and NT).   Indigo Power also uses Energy Locals as a supplier.
 
The setting up of the Solar Garden concept has been very protracted (2 years) and complicated – involving a 55-page legal document and NSW government legislation.  Plot members are financially protected by means of CCU's - Co-operative Capital Units - which are a type of debenture with preferential rights.  Haystacks have a 5-year contract with Energy Locals, with a 3 year renewable option (in case things change and there are better options!)
 
Garden plots are on sale now, (91 so far), and all 333 must be sold by 30 September for the project to proceed.  Construction of the Solar Farm will be completed over Summer, and first repayments May 2023. 
 
Additional costs to plot members include a $50 joining fee, and $1 membership.
 
As Energy Locals operate in Victoria it would be possible for Victorians to buy in.
 
This is the first Solar Garden to get up, and it is expected others may evolve using differing arrangements.
 
Kevin Smith
19th September 2022

​REB had a meeting in early July to try to identify potential community organisations which might benefit from solar installations with similar loan/repayment schemes to that already in place for the 2 kindergartens.

Benalla Men’s Shed was one possible organisation, so a meeting was held on Wednesday 27th July at the Men’s Shed, in order to try to ascertain their power usage (and pattern of power usage) and determine the feasibility of a project there.

The reality is that they operate 3 days per week with not a large amount of power consumption (there is no heating/cooling or hot water system in the building), so the payback period for the loan based on quarterly savings would be far too long to make this a feasible project for us under our current donation-based model for the rotating fund. They also have issues to sort out related to the metering of power on the site in Waller St, as the Lions and Rotary Clubs also have sheds there (both with very minimal power usage).

We may need to broaden our enquiries to look at commercial enterprises, but that has some potential risks around the long-term viability of a business.

Peter Maddock has come across an investigative tool called "Sunulator" which evaluates power use in relation to solar system size and can assess the appropriate size for the situation under consideration. The ATA has developed the Sunulator, and it has been used by the Geelong Sustainability Group to coordinate community renewable energy projects in Geelong (eg 149 kW solar installation at the Multicultural Aged Care building).

Interestingly, GSG uses a community solar investment model.

​
Peter Holmes

BSFG and REB member Kevin Smith recently accepted an invitation to meet with representatives of Lochard Energy. a company which  has recently submitted a development application to DELWP  for a project called Energy Reserve (ER1). ER1 will be a hybrid natural gas and battery station in Winton, approximately 1.8km north east of Winton Motor Raceway (see below image).  

Community enquiries can be addressed to  er1@lochardenergy.com.au, or alternatively fill out the form on the ER1 Project's webpage:  https://www.lochardenergy.com.au/new.../energy-reserve-1/.  This webpage is highly recommended to interested readers - it includes an informative video;  project brief and FAQ.  

Bev Lee

Covid lockdowns and restrictions have had a significant impact on the work of Renewable Energy Benalla (REB), particularly in relation to meetings and conducting any workshop activities. Implementing the Benalla Stationary Energy Transition Strategy developed in 2017 with assistance from Beyond Zero Emissions continues to be the major goal of REB. This strategy has the goal of achieving 100% renewables by 2028.
 
Benalla Community Energy Project
​
The establishment of the Benalla Community Energy Project working group as a sub group of REB has been very successful. The goal of this working group was to establish a donation based Community Energy Fund, managed as a separate BSFG bank account, which makes interest free loans to community buildings to install solar panels or conduct other energy efficiency measures. Loan repayments by the community group to the fund are based on savings on energy bills. These repayments eventually enable funding of another system and the fund becomes a 'revolving fund'.
 
The Community Energy Project working group approached two Benalla kindergartens who accepted the offer of interest free loans to install solar panels. Panels were installed at Munro Ave kindergarten in May 2021 and Bernard Briggs kindergarten in late January this year. Grants from the Winton Solar Farm Community Benefit Scheme assisted with funding both these projects. The solar installer, Solargain, made significant in-kind contributions to both projects and have indicated that they are willing to assist REB in future projects. Loan repayments from both kindergartens are rebuilding the balance of the fund. The working group will now work towards identifying potential future projects to fund.
 
Energy Efficiency

Due to Covid we have been unable to conduct Energy Efficiency workshops during the last two years. While the 2019 workshops were seen to be excellent by those who attended, the number of participants was disappointing.

Improving energy efficiency, and therefore reducing energy use, is a major focus of the Transition Strategy and we need to focus on how to best promote this.
 
Community Power Hub
​
A joint initiative from Goulburn Valley Community Energy and Indigo Power has resulted in the establishment of the Hume Community Power Hub. The Victorian government has established a number of such Hubs across the state and has provided them with significant funding. The purpose of the Hume Community Power Hub is to increase the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects across the Hume Region. In order to do this the Hume Community Power Hub will build the capacity of the North East Community Energy Network and its members.
 
REB is a member of this network, which is the largest community energy network in Australia. Kevin Smith is the REB/BSFG representative on this group.
 
BSGF obtained funding from the Hume Community Power Hub to conduct information sessions for landlords about the advantages of installing solar panels on their properties to enable renters to have access to cheaper electricity bills.
 
Future of REB

REB has been struggling for some time due largely to a lack of active members and the future of REB has been discussed at several REB meetings. The Community Energy Project working group had been meeting independently of REB but in November we held a joint meeting to discuss the future of REB. It was decided that the groups should combine. This should overcome some of the problems that REB has been having.

As a result of the BSFG Review process some new members have joined REB and this should also help.
 
Renewable Energy Benalla was established as an action group of BSFG in 2017, following a very successful public forum in October 2016 on 'Future Energy for Benalla'. After five years as Convenor this report will be my final involvement with REB as I am moving away from Benalla very shortly.
 
John Lloyd
June 2022  

Renewable Energy Benalla is an action group of the Benalla Sustainable Future Group (BSFG). We invite you to attend BSFG's Annual General Meeting: 7.30 pm Thursday 9th June 2022 at the Benalla Uniting Church Fellowship Room.  A report from REB will be presented at the meeting.

Guest Speaker, Dr Lisa Rasmussen, is a Mercy Health clinician and holder of an Environmental Master’s degree. Lisa’s work in reducing the carbon foot print of Mercy Health has resulted in “Caring for People and Planet, Mercy Health’s Strategic Response to Laudato Si”.

​Supper will be served at the conclusion of the evening.

On Tuesday May 31st Brad Foletta from Solar Gain spoke to Landlords from Benalla about the benefits of solar for landlords.

Brad presented information about Solar rebates for rental properties from the Solar Victoria website https://www.solar.vic.gov.au/solar-rebates-rental-properties.

To summarise the benefits:

• Reduce the living expenses for your tenants.

• Cost of living is set to further increase in the near future. By fitting renewable energy solutions like solar PV or solar hot water you reduce the cost of living for your tenant, which in return helps assure that they can afford to pay their rent.
• It also builds loyalty from the tenant, not only will they be better able to afford to stay in your rental property, but they will also want to stay longer term as they will want to reap the benefits of this renewable solution that you have installed which helps avoid the pain and lost income of changing over tenants.

• Improve the value of your property. Home buyers are now looking for features such as a good size, high quality solar system when buying a property. It is well tested that this feature can increase the value of a home when put to market.
• Reduce your impact on the environment. Installing renewable solutions on your rental property will directly reduce the carbon footprint of your assets and help combat climate change.
• Make your house safer

• Mandatory switchboard safety switches (RCD’s) are mandatory for rental properties. If you have a property that needs the switchboard upgrading then you can have it done at the same time as a solar PV install at a reduced cost.
• Old gas appliances which also need to be inspected for possible leaks or carbon monoxide issues can be replaced with heat pump technology for both hot water heating and home heating.

 
Subsidies available:

Small scale technology certificates (STC’s) are generated when you install a Solar PV system or Solar hot water (including heat pumps) This incentive works like a rebate giving you:

• around $3100 off the upfront cost of a typical 6.6kW system.
• Around $1000 off the cost of a solar hot water (heat pump) unit.

There is a further Victorian state rebate available that is administered from the Solar Homes Program (Solar Victoria) Upon being deemed eligible you can be approved for:

• A $1400 rebate from the cost of fitting a solar PV system to your rental property.
• A further $1400 interest free loan is also available, which you can request that your tenant pays half of this.

Victoria Energy Efficiency Certificates:   A further ~$1000 of VEECS state “rebate” is available for heat pump hot water units when replacing an electric storage hot water unit in Victoria. With these Solar PV subsidies combined there is an upfront discount of almost $6000 which can take the cost of a good quality 6.6kW solar PV system on a standard type house install down from the $10k mark to just $4k.
 
For a solar hot water, the cost of a fully installed, good quality iStore heat pump hot water unit is reduced from $4000 to just $2000 if both above mentioned rebates are taken.

Download the Solar for Rentals Fact Sheet.

This meeting was organised by BSFG President Peter Holmes and it was very well attended.  There will be another meeting for Tenants on Tuesday June 14th from 7pm-8pm in the Fellowship Room at the Uniting Church in Carrier Street Benalla, opposite the Coles car park.

Peter Maddock

​On 23rd, 24th and 25th May 2022 two of our members completed Voluntary Home Energy Efficiency Advisor training provided by the Hume Community Power Hub,  https://www.communitypowerhub.net.au/hume/.

Community Power Hubs provide grants for community groups to install renewable energy and undertake energy audits, https://www.communitypowerhub.net.au/.

Indigo Power  https://indigopower.com.au/about-us/, and GV Community Energy https://www.gvce.com.au/ are jointly delivering the Hume Community Power Hub.

Once endorsed our Voluntary members will be able to advise about improving Home Energy Efficiency.  We hope to then have a contact form here to use this service.

​Peter Maddock

Australia’s historically poor energy efficiency standards mean that many of our homes are like ‘glorified tents’ (1): damp, draughty, ice cold in winter and stifling in summer. This makes them energy guzzlers, highly expensive to run and more polluting than they need to be. But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

The Climate Council’s latest report, Tents to Castles: Building Energy Efficient, Cost-Saving Aussie Homes (2), has found that by increasing the minimum energy efficiency standards for new homes from 6 to 7-Stars, we can dramatically cut household emissions, reduce energy bills, and improve people’s health and wellbeing.

For the first time in 11 years, these minimum standards in the National Construction Code are under review.   As we are based in Victoria, our State has already voiced support for implementing a minimum 7-Star energy efficiency rating! You might like to send an email to thank Minister Wynne for his Government voicing support for this update, and encourage the new standards to be enforced from 1 September 2022.

Australians have some of the most expensive energy bills in the world (3), but this report, Tents To Castles, finds that living in a 7-star, all electric house in any capital city in Australia would save occupants $450 on average per year in heating and cooling costs, compared to the current building standard. 

Increasing the energy efficiency of our homes doesn’t just make them safer, more comfortable and cheaper to run, it's also a great way to reduce emissions! Adding an extra star to each new home being built in Australia would mean 25% fewer emissions compared to homes at the minimum standard now - the equivalent of taking a car off the road for an entire year for each new home built (4). With 1.1 million homes expected to be built across the country over the next 5 years (5), the sooner we take action, the bigger the impact we can have on Australia’s emission reduction efforts.

Australians deserve far better from our homes, but we need the help of all state and territory governments to realise this. We must show them that Australians want homes that are energy efficient, comfortable and cheaper to run.

The opportunity to update the National Construction Code will not come around again until 2025.  State and Territory Ministers are preparing to review these regulations, as part of the Building Ministers’ Forum, so now is the time to make our voices heard.   Delaying this action by even another 3 years will lock in higher bills and add 9 million tonnes of emissions this decade - a decision we cannot afford. 

Morgan Koegel
Senior Campaigner
Climate Council
​
P.S. Want to learn more about the benefits of increasing the minimum energy efficiency standard for new homes to 7-Stars? Read the Tents to Castles report here.

References:
(1) Australian houses are just glorified tents in winter, Sydney Morning Herald, June 2015
(2,3,4,5) Tents to Castles: Building energy efficient, cost-saving Aussie homes, Climate Council, April 2022

As many of you know we had an excellent event at Bernard Briggs kindergarten to celebrate the installation of panels.   Thank you to Simon Ruppert of the Ensign for providing such good coverage of the event in the Benalla Ensign last week!   A copy is included with this post for those who don’t read the Ensign.     

​John Lloyd

I would like to explain how the solar panels came to be installed on Bernard Briggs Kindergarten.
 
I am Convenor of Renewable Energy Benalla, which is an action group of Benalla Sustainable Future Group, a not-for-profit community group which actively encourages taking action on climate change.
 
Renewable Energy Benalla seeks to encourage the uptake of renewable energy in Benalla Rural City and has initiated the Benalla Community Energy Project as one way of contributing to this. The community energy project aims to establish a donation based revolving fund to install solar panels or undertake energy efficiency upgrades on community facilities in and around Benalla.
 
The project provides interest free loans to the selected community facilities, to fund the works required, with no upfront contribution being necessary. Loan repayments to the fund from the host site are based on the estimated savings made on energy bills. The loan repayments gradually rebuild the balance of the fund, which can then be used to make a loan to another community building. In this way the fund becomes a revolving fund.
 
Donations from the community help rebuild the balance of the fund more quickly than relying solely on loan repayments, which enables new loans to be made to other community facilities more frequently.
 
Following discussions with the kindergarten management group, the North East Regional PreSchool Association, Munro Ave was selected as our first project with panels installed last May.
 
We have also been very fortunate to obtain another grant of $5000 from Winton Solar Farm which together with significant contributions from others, including some loan repayments from Munro Ave, enabled us to fund the installation of panels here, at Bernard Briggs, without the need for fund raising.
 
The system that was installed was a 6.6kW system which will reduce electricity costs for the kindergarten by more than $1500 per year.
 
Future projects however will require donations from the community. A local business, Rustik Café, has a donations box on the counter in which customers often donate small change. When Rustik heard about this project they decided to donate the money from this box to our project. Their first donation was $135 and they will continue to donate money collected in this way. Thank you to Rustik.
 
I would now like to thank the people and organisations that have made major contributions to this project.
​
First, we must once again thank Winton Solar Farm for providing us with a second Community Benefit Grant of $5000 which enabled us to fund our second project.  Our thanks to Erin McPherson, who is representing Winton Solar Farm here today,
 
I also need to thank Brad Foletta, the Manager at Solargain Wangaratta, for the significant in-kind contribution to the installation costs of the panels.  Unfortunately, Brad is unable to attend today because he has contracted Covid.  Blake Smith, the Marketing Manager for Solargain, is here in his place.
 
This was a difficult job with a steep roof and very old fragile terracotta tiles, but the team from Solargain did a quality job.
 
Without the contributions and support from these people we would not be here today celebrating this event.
 
It is now my pleasure to introduce Dr Helen Haines, the Independent Federal Member for Indi, who will officially launch this project. Among the many aspects of her work for Indi communities, Dr Haines has a special interest in promoting renewable energy and in particular Community Energy.
 
In February last year, Helen tabled in Parliament her private member's bill, the Australian Local Power Agency Bill 2021, which would encourage investment in community owned energy in regional areas, which would allow ordinary Australians to share in the benefits of the renewable energy boom.
 
Given Helen's interest in this area we felt it was highly appropriate to ask her to be our key-note speaker.
 
Finally, can I thank you all for attending our ceremony today and once again a special thankyou to all those who have contributed to this project. I would especially like to thank Lisa Mim for her cooperation in allowing us to conduct this ceremony at the kindergarten today.

Renewable Energy Benalla received advice from Winton Solar Farm on 24th December that our application for funds in this round was successful.   A great Christmas present!

Underwritten by BSFG until the Winton Solar Farm grant is received, the solar panels for Bernard Briggs Pre School were installed in late January while there were no children there. 

The  preschool joins  Munro Avenue Pre School in becoming the recipient of a repayable loan from the  Benalla Community Energy Project which covers the up front costs normally involved with  solar panel installation and/or energy efficiency upgrades.  

Things have been very quiet since our joint meeting in November.

The loan agreement document has been sent to the manager of NERPSA for completion of the loan request for panels for Bernard Briggs kindergarten.  This includes details of the system to be installed and the loan required.  Details of the estimated savings and the suggested quarterly repayment of $350 have also been sent, with the fist quarterly repayment on April 1.

The panels will be installed allowing time to hear from Winton Solar Farm about our grant application.  If the grant is late, or we are unsuccessful, BSFG will underwrite  the loan.  Once I know about the installation date and switching the system on, I will let you know.
 
Our next meeting will probably be in later January, once we have heard back from BSFG about any changes in relation to action groups.
 
Today I received a Christmas card from Helen Haines addressed to ‘John and all at REB’, wishing us all a joyous festive season.

Can I add my wishes to everyone for a great Christmas and a healthy and safe 2022.

​John Lloyd

Members of the Benalla Community Energy Project, a working group of Renewable Energy Benalla, attended the meeting of Renewable Energy Benalla on Monday 15 November where it was agreed that the two groups should combine and act as one action group.  Thank you to BCEP members for attending the meeting, which led to some positive results.  

The minutes of November's meeting are included below.   I have previously forwarded to Peter Holmes, BSFG President, the section of the minutes that relate to issues to discuss with BSFG, and David Blore has also met with him to discuss these issues.

As recorded in the minutes, Benalla Community Energy Project (BCEP) is currently in the process of installing solar panels on Bernard Briggs kindergarten.  We work with the North East Regional Pre-School association (NERPSA) who manage the kindergarten and they are who BSFG makes the loan to, to pay for the installation.  The estimated savings they should  make with the installation of the panels suggests a quarterly repayment of $350.

In relation to the next meeting, we will need to wait until BSFG has come to some decision about the issues we have raised with them.

John

-The next REB meeting is at 5pm next Monday 15th November at the Uniting Church meeting room.
The minutes of the October meeting, an agenda for next Monday and my report to the BSFG committee following our discussions about the future of REB have been emailed to REB members and are available below*.

Our discussions included recommending a change of name from REB to Community Energy Benalla,  while noting potential conflict with the Benalla Community Energy Project (BCEP) and a concern that  BCEP seem to be quite separate to REB, when in fact it is actually a sub-committee.
 
These issues were discussed at a recent meeting of the BCEP working group.  As a result of these discussions/questions I have invited members of the group to attend the REB meeting on Monday to sort out these matters.  This will be an important part of discussing the future of REB.
 

John Lloyd
Convenor, 
​Renewable Energy Benalla Action Group

*Agenda
Minutes of October Meeting 
Report on the future of REB to BSFG Executive October 26 2015 .  

Innovations and emerging technologies in energy efficiency and renewable energy around the home and workplace are becoming increasingly accessible. What energy innovations can we harness in our communities?

Join Sustainable Upper Ovens and the Hume Community Power Hub to learn more about emerging technologies and supportive programs being rolled out across the Hume Region at a Zoom webinar n Monday 22 November from 8 to 9 pm.

RSVP - https://indigopower.com.au/energyevent/#accordion

Presenters include: Dennis Lambert (Sustainable Upper Ovens), Matthew Charles-Jones (Mondo) and Heath Shakespeare (Indigo Power).

Further Information: Hume Community Power Hub Ph. 0435 256 914

 Report to BSFG Committee - 26 October 2021
 
Renewable Energy Benalla (REB) has been struggling for some time to achieve some of its goals. We have recently had discussions about the future of REB. While these discussions about how the group will operate will continue for some time we believe we need to inform the BSFG committee of some proposals for change.
 
Title:
Renewable Energy Benalla is a very broad title and could evoke the notion of direct marketing of renewables rather than the social/community goal of promoting the adoption of renewable energy across the Benalla community.

We are proposing that the title be changed to Community Energy Benalla as that better reflects the community focus.

However there is the issue of possible confusion with the Benalla Community Energy Project.
 
Considerations for Future Operations of the Group
 
Benalla Stationary Energy Transition Strategy
The focus of this document is to reduce stationary energy emissions to zero by achieving 100% renewable energy within 10 years. The document outlines three key steps to achieving this:

• Reduce  energy demand  by 1/3 through energy efficiency           
• Replace 1/3 with local renewables
• Switch 1/3 to renewable utility power

 
We are currently investigating a Solar Garden proposal which fits within the Replace with local renewables strategy.

The Benalla Community Energy Project (solar panels or energy upgrades) does focus on Replace but may also focus on Reduce if future projects are to do with improving energy efficiency.
 
Reduce and Replace strategies could be within the resources of Community Energy Benalla.
 
Switch to Utility Scale would be beyond the resources of CEB without major involvement from the council.

The goal of Switch would be to have a solar farm built to provide energy directly into the Benalla grid.

A local example is where Wangaratta Council invited a developer to build a solar farm to provide power to the industrial estate. This attracted industries to Wangaratta to benefit from cheaper renewable energy.

Could Benalla council be encouraged to do that for Enterprise Park?
 
Reduce energy demand through better building and energy efficiency

REB has conducted Energy Efficiency workshops in the past however the numbers attending the most recent workshops were disappointing. This is one of the key steps in reducing emissions and should continue to be part of the work of Community Energy Benalla.

There are many resources on the internet about retrofitting existing houses to make them more energy efficient and reduce energy bills. Possibly CEB could focus on directing people to these resources through website and social media?

Another possibility could be to conduct a forum focussed on people having problems paying their electricity bills.
 
Energy Efficiency Awards

In 2016 and 2018 BSFG and SunReal sponsored the Environmentally Sustainable Business Award as part of the Benalla Business Network "Business Excellence Awards". While it appears that BBN may not continue with these awards they may be interested in supporting an Energy Efficiency Award, obviously for businesses.

While it is obvious that some sort of sponsorship would be needed we believe it may be something worth pursuing, particularly with the focus on businesses. Sustainability Victoria assisted with the judging of the business awards and they may be able assist again.

Such awards may be best initiated by BSFG rather than CEB.
 
Convenor Vacancy
​
A major issue for Community Energy Benalla will be one of leadership as I will be moving away from Benalla in the near future.
 
John Lloyd 
​

A reminder that our next meeting is on Monday 18th October at 5pm at the Uniting Church rooms.  
 
The Minutes of the September 13 2021 Meeting, together with Information about the Hume Community Power Hub and  Project EDGE   discussed at this meeting, are attached. 

Later in September John Lloyd presented the Renewable Energy Benalla Report to BSFG's General Meeting, also recommended reading .

The Agenda for 18th September meeting will be available shortly.

New members welcome.