Hunter community groups are seeking federal government assistance to establish a series of local energy hubs to assist people navigate the challenges of the clean energy transition.
Tomorrow Movement's Renew Australia for All Campaign has partnered with Climate Action Newcastle and the Hunter Community Alliance to promote the hubs.
A series of talks and listening sessions will be held around the Hunter in the lead up to the local government elections.
The hubs would be physical information centres staffed by experienced local experts. They could inform local people about local renewables and transmission projects; household and farm business electrification and battery storage; electric vehicles; offshore wind projects and more.
They would help overcome barriers to accessing renewable electricity due to a lack of time or good advice, as well as helping solve more complex challenges such as allowing people to have a say in large-scale projects proposed for the region.
"People know they will be living with and/or forging or remaking their careers in the renewable energy sector we're building right now, and we deserve access to the information we need to engage meaningfully with the details of proposals coming to us from Government and industry, without feeling rail-roaded. The presence of Local Energy Hub will provide people with a place to go where questions, concerns and ideas will be heard and met with no-nonsense answers," Hunter Community Environment Centre coordinator Johanna Lynch said.
"The hubs will provide a bridge or conduit between local people, and the raft of opportunities for regional renewal which are ripe for the picking, being presented by the energy transformation underway across the country right now."
Advocacy group RE-Alliance has been speaking to government MPs and Ministers with a coalition of partners including the Community Power Agency and Yes 2 Renewables over the past six months to ensure every step is being taken to support regional communities hosting the clean energy shift.
"Getting accurate information about local projects into local communities is key to the energy shift, and who better to deliver this information, than trusted local faces," RE-Alliance National Director, Andrew Bray, said.
"Local Energy Hubs will help make the energy shift smoother in regional communities."
A Newcastle local energy hubs event will be held at Civic Park this Thursday from 4:30pm ahead of Saul Griffith's Electrify Everything event at the City Hall.
A spokeswoman for Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the government acknowledged communities were looking for better access to factual, balanced, transparent information about the energy transformation.
She said federal, state and territory energy ministers recently released their response to the community engagement review, noting their agreement in full to the recommendation to provide more and better information to local communities.
"We are currently working with various stakeholders on how best to implement the recommendations, noting local energy hubs have been raised as a possible option," she said.
"Global efforts to reduce emissions have already started transforming traditional industries, creating new opportunities to broaden Australia's industrial base and strengthen our ability to make things here.
The spokeswoman said the Net Zero Economy Authority would play an important role in one of the most significant economic periods in Australian history and help position Australia as a renewable energy superpower
"This Authority will be pivotal to delivering and promoting an orderly and positive economic transformation as the world decarbonises, and ensure the communities that have powered Australia's prosperity for decades see the benefits of this transition," she said.
