Sydney councils launch community energy tender

A group of NSW local government councils working to reduce energy bills and emissions in the southern and inner west Sydney region has called for expressions of interest to provide “community energy services” to the market.

The invitation from the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, issued on Thursday, is described as the first phase of a longer project involving the group’s 16 member councils, with the potential for even broader expansion in the future.
The group – comprising the councils of Ashfield, Bankstown, Botany Bay, Burwood, Canada Bay, Canterbury, City of Sydney, Hurstville, Kogarah, Leichardt, Marrickville, Randwick, Rockdale, Sutherland, Waverley and Woollahra – says the proposed Community Energy Organisation would offer a wide variety of services, including home energy audits, independent advice, product vetting and discounts and a variety of other services.
SSROC general manager Namoi Dougall said the move offered an opportunity for communities to access innovative services and slash their energy bills and carbon emissions.
“It’s also a unique opportunity for businesses to collaborate to deliver services in partnership,” she said.
This is the second time the SSROC has issued a tender for community energy services. In December 2014, it called on local solar suppliers to provide a variety of finance options, including solar bulk buying, and solar leasing.
In April last year, this tender was won by local outfit Energy Matters whose parent company, US-based giant Sun-Edison, has since gone into rather spectacular decline, and is believed to be close to filing for bankruptcy.
This time around, the councils have broadened their focus to reducing energy consumption, enabling energy savings, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the amount of renewable energy consumption in the region.
“SSROC is proud to be a key player in helping communities take their energy consumption into their own hands. We want to see businesses putting their case forward with innovative and creative solutions to pressing challenges”, Dougall said.
The Expression of Interest process is being run through the City of Canterbury Council tenders and can be found online here.