13 local governments working together on climate change across Central and North West Victoria
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In this issue:
- Think Stimulus, Think Climate
- Loddon Mallee Renewable Energy Roadmap Released
- Renewable Energy Trasition Modelling Tool
- Charging the Regions
- Home Energy Webinars
- We're Hiring!
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Think Stimulus, Think Climate
Local governments are on the frontline of two monumental challenges; the Corona Virus pandemic and Climate Change.Tackling both challenges at the same time is as important as ever.Luckily, implementing local climate solutions can significantly boost pandemic recovery efforts. The risks climate change poses to local government have not gone away. Climate change impacts nearly every aspect of council core business and across multiple service areas.Councils have been leading the way for decades on climate change and sustainability and have a unique opportunity to ramp up ambitions. Corporate and community initiatives that can deliver direct financial savings to councils, boost local economies,create jobs, improve health and wellbeing and the health of the local environment.
Local councils are already seeing funding flow through from State and Federal Governments to support economic recovery. These packages offer an important opportunity to maximise climate change and sustainability outcomes.
The Victorian Greenhouse Alliances have been working on a range of regional and statewide climate change projects with their member councils. These projects are ready to either expand or proceed from business case to implementation. The following principles have been considered:
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Loddon Mallee Renewable Roadmap Released
 We are pleased to announce that the Minister launched both the Loddon Mallee Renewable Energy and Grampians Zero Emissions Roadmaps last week.
CVGA led the Loddon Mallee project and it is the culmination of a years work and intensive community engagement led by CVGA in partnership with DELWP and the Loddon Mallee New Energy Taskforce.
Big shout out to CVGA staff James Depasquale and Adam Zaborszczyk for their work leading the project. It was a complex project and they did a great job!
Big thanks to John McLinden (Swan Hill Rural City Council CEO) and Darren Fuzzard (Mount Alexander Shire Council CEO) for sitting on the taskforce and guiding the project.
Also a big thanks to all the officers across CVGA who helped coordinate and promote the program and associated community engagement.
You can see the Loddon Mallee Renewable Energy Roadmap Report here. Also check out the other Victorian Roadmaps reports here. |
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Renewable Energy Transition Modelling Tool
As part of the Victorian Renewable Energy Roadmaps, CVGA led the development of an online tool for any Local Government Area, Victorian Government region or renewable energy zone in Victoria.
We are pleased to make live our "Renewable Energy (RE)Transition Socioeconomic Modelling Tool" for Victoria. A partnership with REMPLAN, DELWP, and Barwon Water.
The tool was developed to help demonstrate the economic benefits that various types of renewable energy deliver in the respective regions. It allows anyone to understand the:
- Economic and demographic overviews of each region across the State
- Estimates of each region’s renewable energy potential
- Insights into key environmental and asset-related characteristics
- An impact modelling tool to assist with quantifying the employment and economic benefits of renewable energy projects.
 
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Charging the Regions
 We are excited to have completed our Charging the Regions project which undertook a study on the roll out of a statewide charging infrastructure network for 43 regional councils, 11 metropolitan councils, the Goulburn Broken Greenhouse Alliance, the Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action, the Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action.
It is with great pleasure that we can now release the Final Outcome Report for the Charging the Regions project. This final report synthesises the findings of the different stages of the project and provides an outline of the proposed next steps for ongoing collaboration.
We are enthusiastic about the prospect of an ongoing statewide collaborative network of EV chargers, despite the Covid- 19 crisis and we are continuing to work on the next steps.
The project has outlined why local governments play an important role in provision of EV infrastructure. The project estimates that for between $4-7M the State could have a dense network of fast chargers on council land, many of which could be funded through private investment and state government subsidies.
Thank you all participating partners, particularly to the great work of our consultants Ndevr Environmental, to our excellent Project Control Group and to our project manager Sandra Ryan. Also big thanks to Bronwyn Chapman from the Goulburn Broken Greenhouse Alliance for all her work, and the original idea for the project stemming from GBGA's EV tourism trail project.
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Home Energy Webinars
 CVGA, in partnership with Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action, Brimbank City Council and CVGA's member councils, ran two Home energy webinars in May. Both sessions were well attended and looked at ways to take back control of energy bills and tips for saving energy at home.
The first webinar was delivered by Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) which focused on simple steps that everyone can take to get affordable bills. Expert insights into the four effective steps to take control and reduce bills:
- energy concessions
- finding a cheaper energy plan
- tips for saving energy
- your rights to get help if you have trouble paying
The second webinar was delivered by Renew and was designed to go into more detail about what can be done around the home to save energy. It covered how to to save energy and stay warm this winter with tips on:-
- easy, simple measures anyone can take now
- getting rid of draughts and leaks
- the benefit of insulating your home
- heating your home efficiently
- installing solar systems (and batteries)
You can view a recording of the webinar here.
Want to learn more about energy saving at home, there is some great information on https://energyinfohub.org.au/
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We're Hiring!
Community Energy Program Support Officer
Interested in community energy, renewable energy or climate change? Join our team and help deliver the CVGA’s community solar and storage bulk buy programs (MASH, Hepburn Bulk Buy and the Mallee Sun Bulk Buy) across central and northern Victoria. Based in Castlemaine. Flexible conditions.
For more info, go to our website.
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