Related story: Energise Gloucester with community renewables
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As the government the Solar Bonus Scheme comes to an end and electricity prices increase, Gloucester residents look for advice about renewable energy.
What to do after 31 December when the feed in tariff disappears, was one of the topics discussed at the official launch of the Energise Gloucester held on Thursday, November 17, at the Bucketts Way Neighbourhood Centre.
Around 90 people attended to listen to the guest speakers, Mark Squires from Resource Efficiency and Tom Nockolds from Community Power Agency.
Energise Gloucester chair, David Marston said the group wants to help the community understand their options.
“One of the things Energise Gloucester wants to do is to provide ongoing information about alternative energy,” he said.
They also want to help low income earners manage their electricity bills, let them know about government incentives and how to get access to them,
“Out of the meeting, we got 40 new members with one member generously donating $2,000 to help us get started.”
The group began its development after the Sustainable Futures Conference around 18 months ago and has just recently become a not-for-profit incorporated organisation.
Their vision is to have a viable renewable energy program operating in Gloucester by 2020. Part of getting this up and running, is inviting the community to be involved in the progress.
The idea is to reduce the communities dependency on the grid and teach people how to be more efficient with their power usage as the cost of electricity continues to rise.
The group will continue to put on information sessions over the next few months.