A number of local businesses and community groups have already offered their support for the Cobargo energy transition, and the community microgrid project in particular.
Quaama Progress Association
Our community is always interested in ways to help our environment, so the potential of tapping into renewable energy is something that we look forward to. The prospect of homes and businesses being more resilient by being able to feed into and draw from localised storage facilities is very exciting to the committee.
It will help families set up their homes, and businesses to be as energy efficient as possible, and make decisions for future purchases to be more energy efficient and reduce emissions. The potential to help our local community is enormous.
Cobargo Co-operative Society
The Co-operative operates a substantial community owned business in Cobargo, and we were seriously impacted by the protracted energy outages resulting from the catastrophic New Year’s Day bushfires, affecting our capability of servicing the community with critically needed products and services, including fuel.
The Co-op views long term energy resilience and stand-alone capability as essential to the area and to our operations in the event of future major natural disasters, and we strongly support your initiative to achieve this outcome.
Cobargo RFS
This letter confirms the Cobargo Rural Fire Brigade’s support for and participation in the Cobargo and District Energy Transition (CaDET) proposal for the Cobargo Community Energy Resilience project.
Given the Brigade’s function as a critical emergency service provider, we view the proposed power generation and back-up system to be of paramount importance to our capacity to support the community in times of crisis.
Yuin Folk Club Inc., Cobargo Folk Festival
The Yuin Folk Club and the Cobargo Folk Festival team welcome and strongly support this project. In a normal year, our festival and concerts attract thousands of people to Cobargo, most of whom are strong supporters of a move to more renewable energy sources.
It’s clear to anyone who lived through catastrophic power failure during the 2019/2020 bushfires that we need more distributed local energy to withstand future extreme weather and fire events. This project provides an opportunity for people to get involved in a locally-led, practical effort to improve resilience, reduce energy costs and address climate change. The introduction of a successful microgrid will be a gamechanger for the whole of the Bega Valley and beyond.
Cobargo Green Recovery Inc.
The committee of Cobargo Green Recovery Inc. sees the work being undertaken by this community based organisation to be a fundamental and integral part of rebuilding of the Cobargo region post the wildfire events around the NYE eve 2019/20.
Their wide ranging initiatives in terms of renewables, resilience, storage and independence of the main grid, should be applauded as the country’s best practice and well deserving of our (at CGR inc.) and the wider communities approval.
2Pi Software, Bega
We support the proposal which will strengthen the resilience and reliability of our energy supply, directly addressing the risks posed by increasing extreme weather events which have been identified by the Bega Valley Shire Council in its recently released Climate Resilience Strategy.
We also welcome the opportunities for new technologies to be introduced to the region and the substantial boost to economic recovery and renewal in the wake of the 2020 bushfires that have so badly affected the Bega Valley. We are particularly excited by the prospect that, over time, this project will lead to vital job opportunities for a region that commonly sees almost 400 school-leavers move away within 6 months of completion of HSEs.
Bega Cheese
Bega Cheese is pleased to support the proposal from the Cobargo and District Energy Transition to establish a Cobargo Community Microgrid. The proposed Cobargo Community Micro-Grid is a community-led initiative that will make an important contribution to Cobargo’s social and economic recovery from the devastating impact of the Black Summer bushfires. It will play a key role building long-term resilience and reducing risk in the event of future disasters in Cobargo and the surrounding region.
Importantly, it weaves together the region’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, economic diversity ambitions and the drive to promote innovation and adaptation. This community-driven project will help steer community-led resilience and adaptation planning and foster a sense of unity that is so important for community cohesiveness, health and wellbeing. This community initiative aligns with Bega Cheese’s vision of transforming the Bega Valley Shire into the most regenerative – the most circular – rural community in Australia.