Congress Welcome
10:00 am, Wednesday 6th March
Room 5.4/5.5, Exhibition Bld
Welcome to the Community Energy Congress 2024
Heather Smith, Chair of C4CE, gives an Acknowledgement of Country that takes in all the countries of those joining online from around Australia. She introduces Stefan Gsänger from IRENA who opens the Congress by showing that communities have been integral to energy transition from the start. He is followed by a welcome from the Honorable Lily d’Ambrosio, Minister for Energy and Resources, Climate Action and the State Electricity Commission in Victoria.
Stefan Gsänger
Community Power as a Global Gamechanger, WWEA & Chair of IRENA CoA Community Energy Working group.
Stefan has been working for a just and inclusive transition to renewable energy for more than 25 years, since 2001 for WWEA. In this capacity, he has promoted the role of community energy globally, including as initiator and chair of the Community Energy Working Group of the IRENA Coalition for Action. He is also co-chair of the Global 100% Renewable Energy Platform, an international network that aims to put 100% renewable energy at the top of the global agenda.
Heather Smith
Chair, Coalition for Community Energy.
Heather is an electrical engineer, a policy maker and a Churchill Fellow. In her third career she is focused on community energy and our energy transition. Heather is finalising a PhD with UniSA looking at what it takes to redesign our electricity system. Microgrids and the growing independence of local energy systems is the focus of her research. She has been involved in microgrid studies in Heyfield, Venus Bay and Arkaroola.
Session 1A
Graham Hunt chairs this session where we hear from community energy icons about the journey of transforming communities. What can we learn to speed up our own journeys?
Session chair: Graham Hunt
Board Secretary, Renew & Chair, AIA National Residential Sustainability Advisory Group
Graham is a director of Delisle Hunt Wood Architects who strive to deliver sustainable, connected and considered architecture. Their designs aim to be affordable and practical with people in mind. Graham has been an architect for over 35 years and a NatHERS assessor for well over 20 years. A member of ABSA since its foundation. He was doing QA audits for ABSA from 2013 till early this year.
Graham has represented the AIA on the ABCB Residential Energy Efficiency Working Group, the NatHERS Technical Advisory Committee, the NatHERS Stakeholders Consultative committee and the Your Home Consultative Committee. He is currently the chair of the AIA National Residential Sustainability Advisory Group and a longtime member of Renew and is currently Board Secretary.
Anne Kennedy
Chair, Zero Emissions Noosa Inc.
Anne chairs Zero Emissions Noosa Inc., a regional innovator in the community energy sector. ZEN Inc’s. dedicated volunteers undertake cutting edge energy and transport projects to help move the Noosa LGA towards net zero emissions. She has worked across the public, private & NFP sectors, in a diverse range of industries, and at all levels of government. She broke new ground establishing Cleantech Industries Sunshine Coast Inc. 15 years ago, to promote cleantech businesses, and the region as a hub for cleantech industry, including renewable energy. She has a B.Ec. and is a GAICD.
Geoff Park
Renewable Newstead
Geoff Park has lived with his family in Newstead (central Victoria) since 1986. He has been involved in a range of community building initiatives, working to harness the skills, knowledge and energy of local people to implement projects that generate social, economic and environmental benefits. In his ‘other lives’ he is a Director of Natural Decisions (a small consulting business specialising in environmental decision-making) and a naturalist, bird photographer and writer.
Daniel Redman
Repower Shoalhaven Committee
Dan has been working in the energy industry for over a decade, holding several positions spanning corporate advisory and strategy, to product development and sustainability. As a Repower Shoalhaven committee member, Dan uses his experience and knowledge of the energy industry, and passion for a more sustainable future, to promote and advocate for a more just and inclusive sustainable energy transition.
Matthew Charles-Jones
President, Totally Renewable Yackandandah
Matthew is a passionate and tireless advocate for sustainability, community and community energy. To drive this advocacy, he draws heavily on a teaching background in the secondary, tertiary and vocational spheres, underwritten with qualifications in education, ecology, sustainability and energy efficiency.
With Totally Renewable Yackandandah, Matthew has worked on several small microgrid and grid resilience projects, Yack’s first EV Charger, driving for quality installations of rooftop solar and batteries, and expanding a virtual power plant (VPP) program that he conceived in 2019. This ‘Public Virtual Power Plant’ project focused on solar and battery installations with smart energy management on 10 Yackandandah area public buildings. During 2020 he was a nominee for Victoria in the Australia Day Awards and the VPP project received the 2020 Victorian Premiers Sustainability Award for Community, and a second state award for Regional Recognition. TRY was also nominated for the 2023 Australia Day Award as the Indigo Shire Community Group of the Year.
Unfortunately, Matthew was unwell and unable to attend the Congress.
Session 1B
Chaired by Ann Delaney from RenewEconomy, this is a session with four visionaries, four different visions. Where we’re going, what we need to do, how we can ensure success.
Session Chair: Anne Delaney
RenewEconomy, Editor of SwitchedOn
Anne Delaney is the Editor of SwitchedOn, a special series on electrification produced by the crew at RenewEconomy, who have been tracking the green energy transition for more than a decade. With a focus on consumers and communities, SwitchedOn provides news and analysis, explainers, personal stories, and podcasts that identify the opportunities and challenges of electrifying everything. Anne has had a diverse career both in and out of the media. She worked as a producer and presenter for the ABC and SBS for several years before becoming an independent documentary filmmaker, and now works on media and art projects focused on social and environmental change.
Saul Griffith
Founder and Chief Scientist, Rewiring Australia
Saul is an engineer and entrepreneur specialising in clean and renewable energy technologies. Saul has founded a dozen technology companies across 20 years in Silicon Valley. Saul is the author of 3 books including `Electrify’, and `The Big Switch’. Saul has recently turned his attention from Otherlab, his independent Research and Development lab, to policy work and writing, including founding Rewiring America and Rewiring Australia, non-partisan organisations dedicated to electrification and decarbonization.
Lauren Mellor
Clean Energy Communities Coordinator – Northern Territory, Original Power
Lauren Mellor is the Clean Energy Communities Project Coordinator for Original Power. An experienced clean energy and community development practitioner, Lauren has lived and worked in the Northern Territory for close to two decades, and is dedicated to community-led solutions and harnessing the transformative power of clean energy.
Scott McDinny
Garawa man, Ngardara Cooperative, Borroloola
Scott McDinny is a Garrwa/ Yanwuya man from Borroloola in the NT’s Gulf of Carpentaria. He is a founding Director of Ngardara Cooperative, a community controlled organisation established to drive design and development of the Ngardara Microgrid Project, the Territory’s first Indigenous owned utility-scale solar microgrid.
Brendan French
CEO, Energy Consumers Australia
Dr Brendan French is a leading consumer protection and dispute resolution expert, with extensive executive experience across corporate, academic, public, and community spheres.
Prior to joining Energy Consumers Australia as CEO, Brendan championed consumer interests as the Commonwealth Bank’s Executive General Manager Customer and Community Advocacy and before that as Deputy Ombudsman at the Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON). He also taught in the Law School at Western Sydney University, was a Board director for a number of consumer and charitable organisations, and is a published author of academic and popular texts. Brendan holds a doctorate in the History of Ideas and has been awarded for his innovative work on fostering trust between community, corporates and government.
Dr Sophie Scamps MP
Federal Member for Mackellar
Dr Sophie Scamps MP is the Independent Member for the Federal electorate of Mackellar. Sophie made history at the 2022 election by becoming the first Independent to win the Northern Beaches seat since it was first formed in 1949. She ran on a platform of climate action, integrity reform and strong economic management.
Prior to entering politics in 2022, she was a practicing GP in Narrabeen while also serving the community in the Emergency Department of Mona Vale Hospital. In addition to her degree in Medicine, Sophie also has a Masters degree in Public Health from University of New South Wales and a Masters from Oxford University.
She was also an elite runner – at one stage being ranked number one in Australia for the 800m.
Session 1C
Together we will investigate the most significant things that support households and communities to change. We will share our knowledge about what has worked best in driving change for our own community energy work and in our own communities. This is a facilitated workshop session, both at the Congress venue and online, designed by Moragh McKay and lead by Brian Spak from Energy Consumers Australia, assisted by Kristy Walters and Jem Cox. Our starting question is:
“How can we all support communities (households, businesses and organisations) to transition to renewable energy in ways that are fast, fair and vital?”
Brian Spak
Director, Energy Transition
Brian Spak serves as Director, Energy System Transition for Energy Consumers Australia, the national voice for residential and small business energy consumers. His team facilitates a transition to a more abundant, sustainable, and affordable energy system that support consumers’ values, needs, and expectations.
Previously, Brian led grid and renewable integration research for CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and led the new energy product division for Portland General Electric (an American electric utility), where his team created award-winning demand response, energy storage, community solar, and electric vehicle programs.
Moragh McKay
Managing Director, Mycelia Renewables
Moragh is a systems thinking researcher/practitioner with over 30 years of experience in the fields of ecological restoration, regenerative agriculture, climate change resilience, renewable energy, emissions reduction and strategic co-design to create value for community-centred organisations and rural communities. Her roles have included Founding Director and Chair of Energy Innovation Co-operative, New Energy Projects Manager and Gippsland Smart Specialisation Team Lead with Latrobe Valley Authority, Senior Policy Advisor at Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations, Projects Manager and Executive Officer at Bass Coast Landcare Network and currently is the Managing Director at Mycelia Renewables.
Kristy Walters
Director, Community Power Agency
Kristy Walters is a Director of Community Power Agency – an organisation dedicated to ensuring communities can be active participants and beneficiaries from renewable energy projects – both at the community and large scales. A skilled facilitator with a background in environmental education, campaigning and small business, she has worked in local government, private enterprise and over 10 years in NGOs. Kristy leads CPA’s advocacy efforts and is the chairperson for Haystacks Solar Garden. She is striving to perfect a basketball lay-up, lives by the beach and cycles wherever she can.
Jem Cox
Community Energy Officer, Electrify Bouddi, Co-founder and Director Apple Myrtle
Jem is a former government Senior Executive, now working with the private and public sector in areas such as land property rights, transition to renewable energy, and social, environmental and community engagement. He is currently developing his PhD research in partnership with business and communities, with the aim of generating new insights about what interventions and which institutions will most effectively support homes invest in energy efficiency actions; and support the take-up and effectiveness of community energy projects across Australia.
Session 1D
Pace relates to resources. Hear about sources of finance and support that successful community energy projects have leveraged.
Session Chair: Dr. Vikki McLeod
Zero Emissions Brisbane & QUT
Vikki is an electrical engineer, currently leading the energy market reform work at Rewiring Australia. She recently completed her PhD on, “Can we get there from here? The role of the Commercial Customer in the Electricity Markets of the Future”. Vikki has worked across the energy policy, energy and environmental markets, economic regulation, infrastructure economics, and energy technology landscape, while also volunteering with community energy organisations in Queensland, NT and with C4CE.
Jonathan Prendergast
Director, Komo Energy Pty Ltd
Jonathan is an energy professional specialising in energy markets and corporate PPAs. He has roles at UTS, ISF and the Business Renewables Centre Australia. He is a director of Komo Energy providing development and financial support to community solar projects, including the Grong Grong and Goulburn Community solar farms.
Christina Kirsch
Co-founder, Clearsky Solar Investments Ltd
Dr. Christina Kirsch is the Co-founder and Board Member of the not-for-profit community energy organization, ClearSky Solar Investments, a social enterprise that links community investors with high quality, low risk solar projects.
Christina is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is passionate about supporting our communities to benefit environmentally and economically from the transition to clean energy. Her background in organisational psychology and change management has informed initiatives that facilitate social change towards net zero at the individual and community level.
In 2018 ClearSky Solar Investments was awarded three Green Globe awards, including the award for Climate Leadership, Community Leadership and the Premier’s award for Environmental Excellence. For her work in community energy, Christina received the Blue Star Environmental Achievement Award in 2017 and the Northern Beaches Sustainability & Climate Action Award in 2023.
Briony O’Shea
Chair, Citizens Own Renewable Energy Network Australia (CORENA)
Briony is principal consultant at GPA Engineering, where she manages GPA’s hydrogen and decarbonisation portfolios. Her work focus is driven by a desire to assist the transition from fossil fuels to a renewable, more sustainable energy future. Briony is Chair of CORENA, a not-for-profit organisation that provides interest-free loans and project development support to emissions reduction projects that might otherwise not happen. She holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and a Master of Laws in International Law, and is passionate about decarbonising Australia’s energy systems.
Supported by the Victorian Government