By Eve Lamb
Mount Alexander Shire Council is among 46 Victorian Councils to sign on to the largest ever emissions reduction project by local government in Australia.
The Victorian Energy Collaboration is forecast to provide 45 per cent of all Victorian Councils’ electricity requirements with 100 per cent renewables, reducing greenhouse emissions by 260,000 tonnes of C02-e every year.
Provided by Red Energy, the 240GWh of clean power is equivalent to powering 48,000 homes with renewables or removing the emissions from 90,000 cars every year. Facilitated by the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances, the historic deal is also expected to save participating councils up to 35 per cent on their electricity bills, based on current costs, depending on their individual energy needs.
CEO of the Castlemaine-based Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance Rob Law has told the Mail the project has been five years in the making and represents a huge collaborative effort.
“All of the councils will be saving a lot in the first few years and beyond that their energy costs should be better than business-as-usual for purchasing green power,” Mr Law said.
“It’s a big load of energy which means they can get a good price for it. This is a huge project.” Read more in The Mail 23.05.21