Everyone deserves access to power and every community should have homes that are climate resilient. 

'Renewable projects can help by leaving a legacy of infrastructure and programs to make life better in the bush. Shared equity schemes go even further.'

There are little things you can do now to keep your house cool or warm.

This series is produced by Race for 2030.

Four remote First Nations communities will be transitioned away from a diesel powered electricity supply to solar and battery storage-based microgrids, as part of a federally funded program supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena).

First Nations organisations and energy affordability advocates have joined together to call on the Utilities Commission of the Northern Territory to exercise its regulatory duty to ensure transparent public reporting for electricity customers on prepayment arrangements.

Losing power to your home is always tricky. The fridge stops working, air conditioning and heating stops, lights go out. For many remote communities relying on expensive diesel fuel power and prepaid electricity, power disconnections happen all too regularly.

Remote communities often receive significantly reduced levels of public services compared to the rest of Australia. In addition, often these communities are not connected to Australia’s interconnected electricity systems and are not covered by the same regulatory and policy frameworks designed to protect consumer interests. In particular, remote First Nations communities often receive lower public service levels and consumer protections to those provided to other parts of Australia.

For many remote First Nations communities, increasingly regular temperature and climatic extremes are exacerbating energy insecurity issues.

In addition to the issue of regulatory disparities, other arrangements for the current supply of electricity in remote First Nations communities means that members of these communities are unable to participate in and benefit from Australia’s energy transition - e.g. to access the economic
(and associated cultural, health, education and wellbeing) benefits associated with household solar and battery.

Our submission to the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia’s Inquiry into Energy, Food and Water Security offers three recommendations, including:

1. Ensure the proper implementation and resourcing of the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy so it can achieve its objectives, including through regular reporting at Energy Ministers’ meetings on the steps taken to implement the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy and progress towards meeting its objectives.
2. Ensure that energy systems in First Nations communities are designed to best meet, at least cost to First Nations community members, the economic and social needs of First Nations community members - and which enables First Nations community members to participate in and benefit from Australia’s energy transition.
3. Ensure that First Nations community members/energy consumers in remote locations are protected by equivalent regulatory and policy frameworks that support and protect energy consumers in more populous parts of Australia.

Read our submission here

Remote communities in Australia face unique mobility challenges that may be further complicated by the transition from Internal Combustion Engine vehicles to Electric Vehicles (EVs).

EVs offer numerous advantages including lower maintenance requirements and independence from costly, dangerous and polluting petroleum imports.

Yet the adoption of EVs in Australia has been slow by international standards, and what policiesdo exist tend to focus on incentivising uptake among urban residents with the means to afford new technologies, potentially leaving remote communities in the ‘too hard basket’.

In this study, we assess the feasibility of EVs for communities in remote Australia using Geographic Information System analysis of travel distances between communities and service hub towns utilising present-day EV specifications and charging technologies.

We show that, while EV travel is often not currently feasible for trips to large service hub towns using low-range vehicles, over 99% of communities and residents would be able to travel to their nearest small service hub town with existing long-range EVs.

This suggests that while the barriers to the electrification of transport in remote communities are significant, they are not insurmountable and are deserving of consideration in national and state policy developments in the deployment of charging infrastructure.

Authors: Demaria, K., Sturmberg, B. C. P., Riley, B., & Markham, F. (2022). Exploring the feasibility of electric vehicle travel for remote communities in Australia. Australian Geographer, 53(2), 201–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2022.2086720

Access the report

Photo by Michael Marais on Unsplash