Victorian councils sign up to largest local government emissions reduction partnership - ABC News

More than half of Victoria's councils have signed up to a new partnership that will see them pool their energy contracts to tackle climate change and slash electricity prices so more money can be spent on local services.

Key points:

• Forty-six Victorian councils have pooled their energy contracts to source all their electricity needs from wind

• The partnership is predicted to reduce council energy bills by about 30 per cent

• Darebin Council's mayor says the deal will remove the equivalent of emissions from 90,000 cars every year

The Victorian Energy Collaboration is between 46 local councils and is the largest emissions reduction project by local government in Australia.

The majority of the councils will make the switch to wind energy by July 1. Once all councils are on board, 45 per cent of Victorian council electricity will be sourced from wind energy — the equivalent of removing emissions from 90,000 cars every year.

The renewable energy will be provided by two wind farms in Victoria – Dundonnell wind farm near Mortlake, which began exporting power to the grid last year, and Murra Warra II wind farm near Horsham, which will be fully operational by June 2022.

Darebin City Council mayor Lina Messina said the partnership was created in response to growing community need.

"This is us taking the lead with renewable energy, it is the future, it ticks the boxes," she said.

Darebin City Council mayor Lina Messina says the collaboration is the first step the council is taking to becoming carbon neutral. (

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Cr Messina said the savings in electricity costs would be put back into the community, including into upgrades to pools and libraries.

She added Darebin Council was also working on a plan to transition away from gas by removing gas heaters and burners and swapping them to electric.

Greater Geelong Council is Victoria's largest council and also a signatory to the collaboration.

Mayor Stephanie Asher said by joining, the council would be using renewables for 100 per cent of its energy use.

"This long-term deal will power our street lights, libraries and council facilities while reducing emissions and keeping costs low," she said.

The second Murra Warra wind farm near Horsham will be one of the two wind farms providing fuel to the councils.(

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Victoria's smallest council takes huge climate action

Kitty Walker, founder of the Queenscliff Climate Action Group, said the partnership showed exactly how the effects of climate change could be mitigated at a local level.

The Borough of Queenscliff is Victoria's smallest council area, one of the state's oldest boroughs, is low-lying and almost completely surrounded by water, making it particularly vulnerable to sea level rise.

"I think working with our local councils on this issue is the most important thing we can be doing; there is incredible power in local government," Ms Walker said.

Ms Walker says local government has a huge amount of power to tackle climate change.(

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Queenscliff's 3,000 people decided to launch a climate action group in 2019 to work with the council in the fight against climate change and have an ambitious goal of shifting the town's electricity to renewables by 2025, moving all the town's energy to renewable sources by 2027, and be a zero-carbon community by 2031.

Ms Walker said the Victorian Energy Collaboration was a huge step towards achieving the 2025 goal but that taking it a step further would require residents to partner with their councils. 

She hopes Queenscliff becomes a "blueprint" for how local governments can reach net-zero carbon emissions on their own.

"So often people go to government at a local level and say 'you guys need to fix it', but [climate change] is a massive issue and we know councils need support from all aspects of the community.

"I think people underestimate the true pulse of what people are worried about and when we see consistent inaction from the federal government and small steps from the states that aren't enough the next thing, apart from falling into a pit of despair, is think global, act local.

"When people say it's not the role of local government it's not tangible because it absolutely is. There is so much local government can deal with and should deal with, but it can be so easy to pass the buck."

'Buying power can lead to huge emissions reductions'

Portia Odell, director of the Climate Council's Cities Power Partnership, said the collaboration showed the power local government had to "create effective, local strategies with their buying power".

"That buying power can lead to huge emissions reductions."

Dr Odell says more and more local councils are taking big steps towards reducing emissions.(

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Dr Odell said the partnership would have a "tremendous impact".

"While this is a small dent, it's a substantial one and paves the way and demonstrates the replicability of it across the country."

She added that the inaction of the federal government to formally commit to net zero emissions by 2050 was "fuel for the fire" of local councils.

"We are seeing around the country councils are bypassing the inaction of the federal government and implementing these strategies, we are seeing more and more councils are keen to collaborate so they can implement strong initiatives from the grassroots up."

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Victorian councils sign up to largest local government emissions reduction partnership - ABC News
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