Independent MP for Indi, Dr Helen Haines, has launched the Local Power Plan, with the aim of ensuring that regional Australians benefit from the coming renewable energy boom. 

​GBSAN participated in the community co-design process to develop a national plan to unlock the benefits of community energy, and Stanthorpe is identified in the Local Power Plan as one of 50 proposed regional hubs across Australia.  Being a regional hub would create jobs and opportunities, as a hub provides technical expertise and supports communities to develop their own renewable energy projects.

The $483 million Local Power Plan proposes developing a ‘sunbelt’ of locally owned renewable energy projects across regional Australia.  Each of the hubs built as part of the Local Power Plan would distribute $650,000 worth of grants to local community groups each year over the next decade, enabling local groups like GBSAN to develop their own energy projects.

As well as helping get community energy projects off the ground, the Plan also aims to:

• attract large private investors to partner with local communities to develop larger renewable infrastructure.  This could be a solar farm or a community battery that could help power an entire regional town; and

• establish a requirement that new large-scale renewable projects offer local communities the opportunity to purchase 20% of the project equity.

​​ The idea is to ensure Australians in regional communities reap the benefits from small, mid and large scale renewable energy projects being built in their area.  

Dr Helen Haines is calling on every Australian who wants to capture the opportunities of renewable energy to join the campaign, to make the #LocalPowerPlan a reality and help the Bill to pass to become legislation.