Indigo Shire Council sought to address climate change this week by declaring a climate emergency. In this capacity, Indigo joins an elongating list of councils around Australia, including City of Sydney, City of Melbourne, City of Darwin and Noosa Shire.
In light of this decision, the Indigo Shire Council also voted this week to join the consortium of councils around the state in the Victorian Local Government PPA. Indigo Shire Mayor Bernard Gaffney said the decision is a significant step in moving towards using 100% renewable energy for Council operations. “The decision to take part in the tender aligns with our Climate Change Policy and Environmental Strategy,” said Gaffney, “and shows real action on tackling climate change at the local level.”
Indigo Shire Council is now one of the majority of the 39 local councils that originally expressed an interest in the Local Government PPA. The PPA is a Victorian Greenhouse Alliances project, another tier of regional governance (including over 70 member councils) acting to address climate change.
“By partnering with the Greenhouse Alliance and other councils across Victoria,” said Gaffney, “it means we are able to work as a group to explore low cost options for electricity from renewable energy sources.”
Indigo is no stranger to taking action in a sector that presents itself as a policy vacuum federally. Indigo is home to Yackandandah, a community leading the way in Community Energy projects. In an interview last month, pv magazine Australia sat down with Cam Klose, co-Founder of Indigo Power, who spoke to the community’s demonstration of the power of regional prosumers. Clearly, while the federal government stalls, Aussies set out to get the job done themselves.
The Victorian Greenhouse Alliances – Local Government Electricity Contract Working Group was established in November 2017 to help Victorian Councils save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through their electricity contracting.
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