Melbourne residents and business owners could have their electricity bills slashed by hundreds of dollars each year in a radical plan proposed by the city’s lord mayor.
Nick Reece has pledged to facilitate Australia’s largest community-led bulk purchasing scheme for renewable energy if he is re-elected.
Under his MPower proposal, Melbourne city council would use the collective buying power of households and small businesses to strike a deal for them to receive lower prices for renewable electricity.
Such schemes have previously been used to allow councils to negotiate deals for businesses.
Under Reece’s proposal, residents in the Darebin, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Merri-bek, Moonee Valley, Port Phillip, Stonnington and Yarra council areas could join the scheme.
“The MPower initiative will give more than one million Melburnians the chance to save money on their energy bills and help make the switch to renewable energy,” Reece said on Friday.
“Bulk purchasing works and we know that it can reduce power bills by hundreds of dollars a year, while also delivering big cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.”
after newsletter promotion
The scheme is expected to cost the City of Melbourne up to $2m, in addition to staffing costs, with the funding to be allocated from its existing budget.
If Reece is successful, consultations and negotiations for MPower will begin next year, with the first contracts expected to be available in 2026.
Reece’s running mate, Cr Roshena Campbell, said local governments “can help provide a solution” to increasing power costs.
Several councils across Australia have taken up the fight against rising energy bills. In 2023 the Northern Beaches council in Sydney started a similar initiative, granting small and medium-sized businesses access to exclusive energy deals typically out of reach for smaller players.
South Australia’s City of Mitcham also introduced a community renewables program in 2021 by bulk-buying solar panels and batteries for residents, businesses, sporting clubs and other associations to accelerate their uptake of renewable energy.
Source link