Are you, or do you know of, a community group looking to reduce energy use, save money and lower emissions?
The Powering Communities Program in Indi provides $67,700 to fund up to 12 small projects that will assist community groups to improve energy efficiency practices, lower energy use, save money and reduce emissions. Not-for-profit, community organisations are invited to submit an expression of interest to my office for projects of between $5000 - $12000 to:
Eligible purchases include solar PV, batteries, air conditioning, hot water heaters, LED lighting, cooktops and refrigerators and energy audits. A full list can be found in the Guidelines here: https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/powering-communities-program. Community organisations must meet specific eligibility requirements and provide documentation to support their final application if their EOI is successful. I strongly recommended that you carefully read the grant guidelines before applying. The guidelines require that community groups use Clean Energy Council accredited retailers and installers and choose Clean Energy Council approved products. A list of accredited installers and products is available here: Installers - https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/consumers/buying-solar/find-an-installer Products/Retailers - https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/consumers/buying-solar/find-an-approved-solar-retailer To submit an expression of interest please complete this online form. Expressions of interest must be submitted online by 5.00pm Friday 2 July 2021. Once received, expressions of interest will be assessed by my grants consultative committee in mid-July 2021. Successful applicants will then be invited to make a full application for funding. For further information, please call Helen Haines office: Helen Haines MP Independent Federal Member for Indi 117 Murphy Street Wangaratta VIC 3677 T 03 5721 7077 79 High Street Wodonga VIC 3690 T 02 6024 6284 E [email protected]
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![]() Renewable Energy Benalla (REB) Report to Benalla Sustainable Future Group AGM - Thursday 27 May 2021 While the activities of Renewable Energy Benalla were impacted by COVID restrictions during 2020 some activities resumed with the easing of restrictions in 2021. Benalla Community Energy Project (BCEP) REB has been successful in implementing the Benalla Community Energy Project (BCEP) which 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 required from the receiving community organisation. 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 eventually be used to make a loan to another community building. In this way the fund becomes a revolving fund. We were able to undertake our first project without conducting a fund raising program, as we obtained a grant for $5000 from the Winton Solar Farm Community Benefit program. This grant, along with a significant donation from Sandy Campbell and a significant in-kind contribution from SolarGain, enabled us to install panels on Munro Ave kindergarten. Following installation of the panels we conducted an official 'switch-on' ceremony at Munro Ave kindergarten on May 6th where Dr Helen Haines, the Independent Member for Indi, launched the Community Energy Project. At the conclusion of this ceremony we announced the next project would be the Bernard Briggs Kindergarten. A special thank you to members of the BCEP working group: David Blore, Patricia Brooke, Karen Nankervis. Thanks are also due to the BSFG committee for their support of the BCEP. Website and Social Media Bev Lee and Peter Maddock continue to manage the operation of the REB website which receives a lot of attention. Recently they have been joined by Heath Wiley who has initiated an Instagram account and is an excellent photographer. Our thanks to this Web team. Current Investigations Waste to Energy: Adrian Howden continues to investigate a variety of options for a utility scale waste to energy project for the Benalla region. COVID has restricted the extent of these investigations. Solar Garden: Kevin Smith has been investigating Solar Gardens with the ultimate aim of establishing one in Benalla. A 'solar garden' is like a small solar farm where households unable to install solar panels (e.g. renters) can buy a 'plot' of panels and receive an annual credit against their energy bills for the energy it produces. North East Community Energy Network (NECEN) This network consists of representatives from all the community energy groups in North East Victoria. A lot of valuable networking takes place at these meetings with each group reporting on their activities. The network is supported by Indigo Power. Following the success of the trial Community Power Hubs the state government is making funding available to set up six more hubs in Victoria. Indigo Power and Goulburn Valley Community Energy have put in a joint application to establish a Community Power Hub in Hume Region. Transition Strategy The Benalla Stationary Energy Transition Strategy which was developed with support from Beyond Zero Emissions details appropriate strategies to achieve our goal of 100% renewables by 2028. However this is a complex task and while REB has managed to work on some of the strategies outlined in the Transition Strategy document we urgently need more people to join us to help us achieve our goal. Many of you will have recently received a letter appealing for people to join REB and help us achieve our vision of Benalla becoming a zero net energy town by 2028. This remains an urgent need. John Lloyd Convenor |
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Banner - launch of REB's Munro Avenue Pre School 'behind the meter' solar panel installation, May 6 '21
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