Creation of a Moreland Energy Fund will promote energy conservation practices and products and reduce overall levels of Greenhouse gas emissions. When the former Brunswick City Council’s electricity supply service was sold to private enterprise, its ground breaking energy conservation policies may easily have been lost.
However, according to Councillor Mike Hill, Moreland Council inherited responsibility for continuing those initiatives.
“We recognise the major contribution that the power industry makes to Greenhouse gas generation in Victoria,” he said. “We always accepted that if we financially benefit from trade in electricity, that it brings with it the obligation of educating the community about global warming.”
The proposed aims of the Fund include minimising energy use, reducing Greenhouse gas emissions, advocating the advantages of reducing energy consumption and promoting products which might achieve this.
A study into the feasibility of establishing a Moreland Energy Fund has been undertaken to identify how Council can best support these initiatives. This included extensive community consultation.
With a funding base of $5.5 million, preserved from the sale of the former Municipal Electricity Supplies, the Fund has the opportunity to promote substantial programs. It will be used for information, education and advocacy; partnerships; innovation; and supporting research and pilot projects.
Fund allocations will be based on principles of social justice, developing local economic initiatives, consideration of the needs of ethnic groups and the potential success of proposed projects.
Specific initiatives include assisting financially disadvantaged groups, such as people living in rental properties, who may not be able to afford conservation measures like insulation. Other applications could see partnerships between the Fund and other parties, such as manufacturers, to promote new technologies or pilot projects is a constant theme for the Council.
