• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
One Step Off The Grid

One Step Off The Grid

Solar, storage and distributed energy news

  • Solar
  • Battery/Storage
  • Off-Grid
  • Efficiency
  • Software
  • Podcasts
  • Tariffs
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Electrification

SwitchedOn podcast: Like a game of snakes and ladders – the struggle to switch on a community battery

February 26, 2025 by Anne Delaney Leave a Comment

In the first of our series of interviews with community groups installing community batteries, So you want to install a community battery?, we hear from Graeme Martin, the Director of Village Power, on what to do and what not to do if you want to install a community battery.

Village Power has been beavering away to get a community battery installed in the Alphington/Fairfield area of Melbourne for over seven years. They liken the process to a game of snakes and ladders, with setbacks at every turn, because they still haven’t managed to switch their battery on.

Their latest hurdle came two weeks ago when the retailer they’d negotiated to come on board the project dropped them.

SwitchedOn Australia · So you want to install a community battery? Village Power’s battle to get switched on

 

Reclaim Energy is a proud sponsor of the SwitchedOn Australia Podcast.

Anne Delaney
Anne Delaney

Anne Delaney is the host of the SwitchedOn podcast and our Electrification Editor, She has had a successful career in journalism (the ABC and SBS), as a documentary film maker, and as an artist and sculptor.

Filed Under: News, Podcasts

About Anne Delaney

Anne Delaney is the host of the SwitchedOn podcast and our Electrification Editor, She has had a successful career in journalism (the ABC and SBS), as a documentary film maker, and as an artist and sculptor.

Primary Sidebar

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Emissions Counter

Renew Economy

RSS Energy News from Renew Economy

  • New renewables and batteries improve grid reliability outlook, but more needs to get built on time, AEMO says
  • Post-2030 contract design for new renewables takes shape as working group agrees on firming price caps
  • Hefty network fees discussed as state government reveals massive scale of data centre grid connection demands
  • “A Trojan horse for communism!” More big batteries head for review as familiar long distance objectors pile in again
  • Linking electricity and safeguards could make wind projects viable, and oblige gentailers to actually Do Something

RSS Electric Vehicle News from The Driven

  • Tesla recalls millions of EVs in China after regulator calls in multiple carmakers over emergency door release
  • Xpeng’s premium electric SUV, G9L spotted in Australia ahead of expected launch
  • BYD launches its most luxurious electric sedan, with 5 minute charging and 1,000 km of range
  • Tesla announces biggest order to date for Semi electric truck from supply chain company
  • Is this the world’s biggest electric mining truck? A 350-tonne monster unveiled in China

Press Releases

  • Huge luxury Saudi resort goes 100pct renewables with one of world’s biggest batteries
  • How solar + storage can be a game-changer for people with disabilities

Footer

Technologies

  • Solar
  • Battery/Storage
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Software/Gadgets
  • Other Renewables
  • Policy
  • Tariffs
  • Contact
  • Advertise with us
  • About One Step Off The Grid
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2026 · OneStep Genesis on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in