’Tis the season for New Year’s Resolutions, so we hope you will join us in adding ‘electrify my home, car or business’ to your list. This is the year we are hoping to begin rolling out a community-wide electrification project and we’re excited to see what may take shape over the next few months.

Firstly, make sure you tune into ABC’s Australian Story this month as Dr Saul Griffith and our Electrify 2515 project will be featured!

A pilot for Australia

The last few months of 2022 were busy ones and it has been clear that it’s not just local 2515 residents who are excited about the idea of community electrification. We were invited to speak at a range of events from Canberra to Sydney and Saul was invited to attend Parliament with Senator David Pocock and meet with Federal Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Deputy Minister, Jenny McAllister, who told him “this is changing the national dialogue!”

Timing of the project

Rewiring Australia, with input from Electrify 2515, are in the process of putting in a big funding proposal to The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which is not due to receive a response until towards the end of the first quarter of 2023 – perhaps in March, but we’ll keep you updated.

Will it definitely be funded?

No, and if it is funded, it won’t be funded completely. What this means for you is if the funding proposal is successful, we hope we can offer decent subsidies and incentives to convert appliances in your home or business to more efficient, electric alternatives as well as benefiting from other aspects of the project. There are already some subsidies and rebates available by governments and we will also take advantage of them, making them more affordable with organising bulk buys and installations.

What else is happening?

To take on a community electrification project that is effective, equitable and viable is a complex task so a lot of research, meetings and consultations are taking place with our volunteer team. Some of the big ideas we’re currently exploring include:

• A community energy co-op
• Community solar arrays
• Community battery
• EV charging stations
• EV carshare scheme
• Renter/strata models

And more! As you might imagine, embarking on a world-first pilot project such as this is no small feat and there are a lot of balls in the air. What is clear though is community support is essential if we are to turn the exciting idea of a net zero emissions community into a reality.

Thank you for your support on this journey so far, and we look forward to an exciting year ahead!

PS: It’s not too late to register your interest! Visit electrify2515.org/survey