Sunday afternoon's home electrification session at Anita’s Theatre was a hit, attracting a crowd rock stars would envy.

About 600 people attended yesterday's launch of the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot, a two-year research project to electrify 500 homes that recently received $5.4 million in federal funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Presenting to a packed house at Thirroul’s live music venue, Rewiring Australia co-founder Dr Saul Griffith donned an Electrify 2515 t-shirt from the preloved range sustainably sourced at local op shops to deliver his keynote address, describing the pilot as a “lighthouse project” and a “world first”.

“You might think we're just Thirroul, 2515,” he said. “The most ambitious version of a project like this was in Georgia last year with 50 homes … this is the first time that we're really doing it on the grid, trying to demonstrate technically that we're going to improve the grid and lower the cost of electricity by doing it.

“The other half of the project that I think might be even more exciting and more consequential is about the economic effects on the community. So, there's 4700-ish households in 2515. Collectively we spend $38 million a year on fossil fuels… once we get to the fully electrified community in a decade or so, we will be saving about $16 to $20 million a year as a community.”

Saul said the transformation could also create about 100 new jobs.

“I think this is the beautiful story that, if we can prove that it's true, is going to make this an addictive movement that takes over the world. And it's really a story of economic renewal based on communities.”

Reasons to celebrate

There was a celebratory vibe in the theatre, with an enthusiastic crowd of all ages, from children to retirees, breaking into spontaneous rounds of applause for speakers.

These included Federal Member for Cunningham Alison Byrnes; Electrify 2515 Pilot Operations Manager John Buchelin; Francis Vierboom, Rewiring Australia’s Market Transformation Manager; and pilot partner representatives, Douglas Chapman, of finance company Brighte, and Ben Dufty, network operations manager for Endeavour Energy.

Ben fielded several practical questions from the audience, from why you can’t use solar batteries in a blackout (to keep workers repairing the network safe) to “Are we going to blow up the grid?”

“The answer is no,” he said.

“There's been plenty of modelling done in the background to actually understand what the theoretical impacts of these changes on our grid will have.”

As part of the two-year Community Pilot, 500 households will receive subsidies to upgrade to electric hot-water systems, air conditioners and cooktops, and to install household batteries. Everyone who takes part will receive a free smart energy device to gather data.

Ultimately, it’s hoped this research will help power the electrification of 11 million homes around Australia.

Grassroots to great

Yesterday’s launch was a celebratory moment in the spotlight for the Electrify 2515 team, which started as a small, hard-working group of volunteers and has swelled to a community-wide movement.

Back in March 2021, some founding members were involved in a family-friendly Camp Out for Climate at Thirroul’s WF Jackson Park, an Extinction Rebellion Northern Illawarra ‘protestival’ that created a gallery of symbolic mud brick "tombstones".

Months later, the volunteers approached Saul, who was new to Austinmer after two decades in the US, where he and the Rewiring America team were instrumental in co-designing climate policy centred on household electrification for the US Inflation Reduction Act.

“They came to me and I still remember, they're like, ‘We've been in an environmental movement forever, we don’t know what to do; it's a little bit hard to take the children to a protest and throw paint and stuff'. And so I said, in reaction to that, ‘Well, why don't we try and be the solution?'...”

Saul – now an integral part of the community, teaching kids at the local public school how to build electric go karts in his spare time – said he is intrigued by changing attitudes. “We've had 50 years of environmentalism that looks like: shut things down… And what we are doing here is really a new type of environmental activism. This is about building things, doing things, making real change in your community.

"That's really positive.”

Who can take part

Applications for the Community Pilot are now open to renters and home owners in the 2515 postcode, which stretches along the coast from Clifton to Thirroul. Participants will be selected to represent a range of demographics, with higher subsidies for those on lower incomes.

On reading questions from the audience, event MC Kristen McDonald, one of the founding volunteers and now Rewiring Australia’s Mobilisation & Engagement Manager, thanked the keen locals already asking, “If I'm not selected to be a part of the pilot, can I still get a smart device? Can I still participate in the research?”

“I just think this really sums up the beautiful sentiment in our community,” Kristen said. “Others have asked how does it work if you want to donate your subsidy.”

Pilot manager John Buchelin said people who qualify are welcome to waive their subsidy. “If you bring that money back into the pilot, that opens up another spot for a low income home to come in,” he said. “It lets us broaden the community and spend our money probably more where it's needed.”

Inspired by the 2515 pilot, volunteers are already at work on wider movements, such as Electrify Illawarra, led by Denise Aubourg.

Wrapping up the event, Dr Saul took a question about what success would look like in this pilot: “Success for me is that we are a seed in an international movement to electrify that helps the whole world.”

Fast facts

The Electrify 2515 Community Pilot will run in two stages, starting with 60 homes in December. The cut-off for the main stage will be around the end of March. The team will run drop-in sessions at the Thirroul Community Library and Community Centre every Friday for the rest of November, 10am-2pm in the Black Diamond Room. They’ll also have a stall at November 24’s Coledale Markets. Residents can also book 30-minute phone consultations and find more information at www.electrify2515.org