Welcome to the November 2024 edition of the EAGA news round-up. Highlights from this edition are the release of the 2023/2024 EAGA Annual Report, the success of the 2024 Victorian Greenhouse Alliances Conference, a wrap up from the Neighbourhood Batteries Business Case project and a federal grant win for our Energy Savers program.
EAGA’s 2023/24 Annual Report Released
Over the past 12 months, there have been significant signs of progress in Australia’s commitment to climate action. In Melbourne’s east, EAGA continues to deliver projects with regional and state-wide impacts.
The 2023/24 Annual Report, summarises the significant financial and emissions savings captured by councils, while also underscoring the Alliance’s dedication to reducing community emissions.
The Year at a Glance
- $6M savings for councils and communities
- >63,000 tonnes of emissions reductions
- 13 formal advocacy submissions
- >1,300 businesses engaged on energy efficiency
- >1.1MW community solar delivered
In the Chairperson’s statement Cr Suzy Stojanovic, Maroondah City Council, highlighted the impact of the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO). “The initiative is the largest emissions reduction project ever undertaken within the sector and is already delivering substantial cost savings for councils across Victoria.”
Cr Stojanovic also emphasised the tangible results of EAGA’s advocacy alongside the other Greenhouse Alliances. “The recent amendments to Victoria’s Planning and Environment Act (March 2024) were a direct result of our ‘planning for a safe climate’ advocacy campaign. As a result, planning authorities will need to explicitly consider greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and climate resilience in day-to-day planning processes.”
The Chairpersons’ statement highlights the impact of EAGA’s initiatives often extends beyond Melbourne’s eastern region. Councils outside of EAGA have saved over $9M and reduced emissions by 216,000 tonnes the past 12 months. Read the report to learn more about EAGA’s advocacy and project work.
2024 Victorian Greenhouse Alliances’ Conference
The Victorian Greenhouse Alliances’ Conference took place on 30 August, attracting over 400 attendees – the majority from local government – for a day of learning and networking. Session topics included the role of sub-national governments in COP, enhancing community resilience to climate change effects, and using nature-based solutions to meet climate mitigation and adaptation goals.
Dr Bronwyn Gresham, CEO of Psychology for a Safe Climate, gave the keynote speech on fostering emotional strength for people working on climate action. Fiona Weigall, CEO of East Gippsland Shire Council, closed the day with a speech drawing on the region’s experience with recovery from the 2019/20 bushfires to demonstrate local government’s crucial role in building climate resilience.
Explore all the topics in the conference program and download the presentations for each session.
Neighbourhood Batteries Business Case Project Wraps Up
In cooperation with Greenhouse Alliances, the Yarra Energy Foundation successfully completed the Neighbourhood Battery Initiative (NBI) project in July, providing 22 bespoke business cases and stakeholder engagement plans, plus one overarching master report for the participating councils.
The business case project suggests a neighbourhood battery project on council land is an opportunity for council leadership and capacity building on increasing local benefits from distributed energy resources, engaging communities with these resources and smoothing the electricity grid transition.
The project also found that neighbourhood batteries are financially viable when co-funded by available government grants and financial returns improve when a battery is co-located with an EV charging station. Councils now have the option to apply for funding to install a battery through the state government’s 100 Neighbourhood Batteries program.
Energy Savers Federal Grant Win
EAGA’s Energy Savers program has successfully secured $310,000 in federal funding for energy efficiency upgrades for 13 of the businesses they engaged with in EAGA’s region. This brings the total of federal grants received through Energy Saver’s engagement to more than $800,000 for 39 businesses in the past 12 months.
Moreover, across the nine council regions that were part of Energy Savers in 2023/24, there were 68 businesses that received $1,620,749 in funding. This comes on top of the project team’s regular engagement with businesses about undertaking energy efficiency upgrades with subsidised appliances and equipment. In 2023/24, the program spoke to 1371 businesses across the EAGA region.
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