DEAR News Of The Area,
I AM writing in response to the fact there has been significant misinformation published in your newspaper concerning the benefits of installing solar power, batteries and other ways to reduce family energy bills.
People living in rental accommodation are particularly badly impacted by rising energy prices.
It’s clear to me that our community needs a local energy hub – a shopfront that community members can visit, staffed by local experts who can provide trusted information and advice to everyone from renters and first homeowners to landlords, real estate agents and property investors.
People need help to negotiate through the process.
Everyone will benefit from renewable energy investment; negotiate with renewable energy developers; reduce cost of living pressures by upgrading the energy efficiency of their homes.
As a Raymond Terrace local, I have seen hundreds of homes in poorer areas of the town with no roof top solar.
They must be paying extraordinarily high electricity prices.
Not only are these properties poorly maintained they are not at all energy efficient.
Landlords or their real estate agents would have a place to go to reduce the energy costs of their tenants.
A Local Energy Hub would help our community to:
● Provide trusted information and advice on all forms of energy, from rooftop solar to large scale projects, questions about alternative energy forms (like nuclear) and everything in between.
● A reliable place to find out about:
· household electrification,
· energy rebates,
· community batteries,
· the latest on the Hunter renewable energy zone,
· the status of development of an offshore wind farm,
· any other local renewable energy project,
· how renters and apartment residents can access cheaper electricity,
· issues with coal, gas, nuclear energy sources and projects.
● Seek advice about the jobs potential in the transition to renewables.
● Be a place to voice concerns and have them passed on to relevant authorities.
● Become a barometer of local community feelings about all our energy issues and help our politicians understand community concerns or desires.
● Be a coordination point for the myriad renewable energy organisations.
In addition to these functions, hubs would:
● Enable better engagement with renewable energy projects by untangling industry jargon and promoting opportunities for local input into consultations.
● Create better outcomes from renewable energy benefit sharing programs, by helping us to understand how to negotiate with industry to get the best possible benefits for our community.
● Take up opportunities for household electrification and energy upgrades, such as rooftop solar, household batteries, electric vehicles and upgrades for cooking and heating systems – so that everyone can benefit from clean energy and reduce their power bills.
● Maximise opportunities for clean energy in agriculture, reducing on-farm power bills.
● Help communities to run our own community energy projects (such as mid-scale solar farms), driven and owned by local people, with local benefits.
I urge readers to support a national network of local energy hubs, including one in Port Stephens and the lower Hunter region, to address these issues and help communities like ours to navigate/participate in/benefit from the energy transition.
Sincerely,
Peter SHEEN DOWLING,
Raymond Terrace.