by @HeatherSmith Heather Smith on 06/04/2025 at 11:30 pm
Gippsland region – Letter of support template and proposal
The conversation is alive and well in Gippsland. Darren McCubbin Darren.McCubbin@gccn.org.au is your best contact. The groups involved at the moment are already suggesting ideas for the region and will work together after funds are awarded to finalise the program.

To: Selection Panel
Sustainability Victoria
Community Electrification Engagement Program Fund
April 4, 2025
To whom it may concern:
RE: APPLICATION FOR GCCN TO LEAD THE GIPPSLAND REGION COMMUNITY ELECTRIFICATION ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM
We write in support of the application being prepared by the Gippsland Climate Change Network (GCCN) to lead the Gippsland Region’s Community Electrification Engagement Program.
I am writing to express my strong support for the Gippsland Climate Change Network (GCCN)’s application to the Community Electrification Engagement Program (CEEP) through Sustainability Victoria.
GCCN is a trusted and capable regional leader in advancing the clean energy transition across Gippsland.
Their proposed Gippsland Electrification Engagement Program outlines an ambitious yet grounded plan to empower households with knowledge, support, and tools to electrify their homes. The program is rooted in genuine community partnerships and reflects a deep understanding of local needs.
We are particularly supportive of the program’s commitment to:

Localised delivery through neighbourhood houses and community energy hubs;
Inclusive engagement with diverse communities including First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, and older residents;
Collaboration with accredited local installers to ensure quality outcomes;
Education and awareness-building via roadshows, the Renewable Education Trailer, and the Gippsland New Energy Conference;
Real-life case studies and storytelling to demystify the electrification process and inspire action.

This initiative builds on proven models already piloted in the region and aligns with our shared goals of reducing emissions, improving home comfort, and strengthening energy resilience across all communities.
Our organisation looks forward to working with GCCN as it delivers this program and ensures it reaches as many households as possible.
[Your Organisation] Background
I recommend you take a paragraph from your website or a recent project and take the opportunity to promote yourselves at the same time
Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Title]
[Organization Name]
[Contact Information]

by @HeatherSmith Heather Smith on 06/04/2025 at 4:17 am
LETTERS OF SUPPORT (Hume plus other links)
Below is some text you can use for a letter of support, thanks Darren McCubbin from Gippsland for the original words . Here are links to:
C4CE’s letter for Hume
CEN letter for Hume
Please send yours to geoff@gvce.com.au
for other regions I have swapped out Goulburn Valley Community Energy (GVCE) for:
Gippsland Climate Change Network (GCCN) – and Hume for Gippsland
Geelong Sustainability – and Hume for Barwon South West
Bendigo Sustainability Group – and Hume for Loddon Mallee
Ballarat Renewable Energy and Zero Emissions (BREAZE) – and Hume for Grampians
Yarra Energy Foundation (YEF) – and Hume for Melbourne
click on the links
To: Selection Panel
Sustainability Victoria
Community Electrification Engagement Program Fund
[Your Name]
[Your Position/Title]
[Your Organization]
April 6 2025
To Whom It May Concern,
RE: APPLICATION FOR GVCE TO LEAD THE HUME REGION COMMUNITY ELECTRIFICATION ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM
We write in support of the application being prepared by the Goulburn Valley Community Energy (GVCE) to lead the Hume Region’s Community Electrification Engagement Program.
GVCE is a trusted and capable regional leader in advancing the clean energy transition across the Hume Region.
Their proposed Electrification Engagement Program outlines an ambitious yet grounded plan to empower households with knowledge, support, and tools to electrify their homes. The program is rooted in genuine community partnerships and reflects a deep understanding of local needs.
We are particularly supportive of the program’s commitment to:

Support community energy groups across the region to run public events;
Provide training to support energy advisory services;
Produce resources to make publicity and engagement easier;
Work with local installers to create better implementation options and access to subsidies in places where communities remain poorly served under the existing subsidy schemes.

This initiative builds on proven models already piloted in the region and aligns with our shared goals of reducing emissions, improving home comfort, and strengthening energy resilience across all communities.
Our organisation looks forward to working with GVCE in delivering this program and ensuring it reaches as many households as possible. We urge you to give this application your full consideration.
[Your Organisation] Background
I recommend you take a paragraph from your website or a recent project and take the opportunity to promote yourselves at the same time
Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Title]
[Organization Name]
[Contact Information]

by @HeatherSmith Heather Smith on 06/04/2025 at 2:51 am
HUME REGION
GVCE is leading the Hume region application, after discussions with Totally Renewable Yackandandah and Indigo Power about who should lead.
From Geoff:
” It is proposed to seek high level concepts from CEN members for inclusion into the submission, with an intent to convene a series of CEN workshops to consolidate these ideas for each participating CEN group – as the first step after receiving the grant. CEN members will be invited to join a voluntary working group to guide the development and deployment of this project.”
From conversations with Geoff I am expecting some of the following ideas to make it into the grant application:

support to run public events in your community
training to support energy advisory services
resources to make publicity and engagement easier
work with installers to create better implementation options and access to subsidies in places where communities can’t find the right provider.

Please get in touch, put your ideas forward and provide a letter of support.

by @HeatherSmith Heather Smith on 05/04/2025 at 12:06 am
Applications to the Community Electrification Engagement Program Fund by Sustainability Victoria close on 16th April
UPDATE – Everyone got their applications in (we hope) and this is a general sense of what is proposed in each region.
Hume – Goulburn Valley Community Energy, Geoff Lodge

Support community energy groups across the region to run public events; inviting the general public and/or targeted audiences such as CALD, religious, community organisations, neighbourhood houses
Guest speakers at regular events/meetings such as service club weekly/fortnightly meetings, sporting club dinner functions, Probis, U3A.
Provide training to support energy advisory services;
Produce resources to make publicity and engagement easier;
Work with local installers to create better implementation options and access to subsidies in places where communities remain poorly served under the existing subsidy schemes.
Target community owned aged care providers that own “independent Living Units” (ILUs) by presenting to their Board/Committees of Governance the benefits of electrifying their ILUs.

Gippsland – GCCN, Darren McCubbin

Localised delivery through neighbourhood houses and community energy hubs;
Inclusive engagement with diverse communities including First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, and older residents;
Collaboration with accredited local installers to ensure quality outcomes;
Education and awareness-building via roadshows, the Renewable Education Trailer, and the Gippsland New Energy Conference;
Real-life case studies and storytelling to demystify the electrification process and inspire action.

Loddon Mallee – Mount Alexander Sustainability Group, Neil Webster

Provide extensive community engagement across the Loddon Mallee region
Leverage the SNLM network and provide funding in the form of small grants to groups that will stimulate them to engage their local communities
Train people to be ‘Bright Sparks’ in their local communities, giving value beyond the life of the project
Plan and implement a campaign to reach as many households as possible using digital comms channels and social media
Use the Bendigo Sustainability Festival as a major event that will focus on electrification in 2026, providing a great focus and platform for the project
Develop localised video content to be used in the Loddon Mallee region, and potentially elsewhere

Barwon South West – Geelong Sustainability, Emilie Flynn

Provide extensive community engagement across the Barwon South West region
Engage with existing networks (i.e. Councils and community energy groups) and establish new networks such as schools, RSLs, rotary and sports clubs
Provide a dedicated officer to establish these relationships, refresh and create resources, and travel to these areas to deliver community engagement in collaboration with these networks, in the form of forums, Q&A sessions, workshops, presentations, pop-ups, webinars, stalls, and more.
This electrification education will be tailored to the demographics of the region including covering what electrification is, its benefits from a cost of living perspective, with more technical and specific product advice when needed.

Metro – Yarra Energy Foundation, Tim Shue

Deliver engagement activities that increase community awareness of the benefits of electrification
Deliver accessible and tailored support to reduce electrification upgrades
Deliver activities in partnership with Local Event Partners (LEPs)
Gather audience data to inform engagement approaches and evaluate impact

Grampians – BREAZE, Peta Guy

A three step training program to provide the skills for advising the general public including all required safety checks.
Develop energy champions throughout the region and train them to work in neighbourhood houses and other public spaces to provide energy advisory services.

by @HeatherSmith Heather Smith on 04/04/2025 at 11:22 pm
The meeting Minutes capture everyone’s updates. It is always so great to see how much work is underway. C4CE, TRY, Wangaratta Landcare & Sustainability, VicGrid, Sustainable Uppper Ovens, Alpine FM, Murrindindee Climate Network, GVCE, Totally Renewable Beechworth, ACF Albury Wodonga, Renewable Energy Benalla, Mitchell CE, Repower Shoalhaven and TREK were all there.

Link to video of Helen’s talk
Link to video of Nick’s talk

Key points from Helen Haines
In this parliament Helen has advocated for:

Home Batteries bill

Better access to ARENA for CE groups

A tripling of the federal microgrid program

Funding for CE hubs

No-interest loans for batteries

The Dyer review which resulted in recommendations for improved community engagement on grid-scale projects

In the next parliament, the future looks somewhat uncertain but Helen asserted that:

CE groups do critical work with renters, low-income groups and other community groups

there are signs that both sides of politics are open to providing home electrification support via low- or no-interest loans

She recommended that CE groups should:

lobby and work with their local MPs

get their stories out there (local papers will print local stories if you write the copy)

Check out Helen’s work here.
Key points from Nick, Indigo Power

Midday is a time of lots of solar generation and relatively little demand

Indigo Power has looked at ways to:

encourage better use of locally-generated electricity
i.e. by incentivising use of solar-generation in the local area when it’s generated

Resulting in the Energy Shaper plan for residential customers with its cheapest energy rate

10 am – 3 pm, everyday, all year

Reducing costs and

encouraging use when generation is cheap and plentiful

accessible to those without their own solar system

You can find out more here.