Fresh solar panels and a battery have been installed at the Tecoma United Church thanks to a funding grant from Ausnet.
A community church in Tecoma has received a grant from Ausnet recently, allowing it to provide its Food is Free program to the people of the area, even during weather related outages.
Saving the church thousands a year, Minister Matt Cutler said the newly installed battery and solar panels will allow the church to continue to sustainably run their 24 hour food service and progress towards becoming a focal point for refuge in emergencies. .
“We are currently an accessible point for the local community in terms of food relief, but we are seeking to be a point of refuge in significant power outages,” he said.
Minister Cutler said they applied for the grant last year and because the church has five fridges to take care of their food program, the grant has provided much-needed relief.
“It was getting to the point where, because of price of electricity, we would have had to have scaled back so to be able to run sustainably,” he said.
The church quietly celebrated the grant with representatives from Ausnet’s team and Member for Monbulk Daniela de Martino on Thursday 29 May.
Kim Sullivan from Ausnet’s energy resilience community fund (ERCF) said AusNet is proud to support Tecoma Uniting Church with funding for a new energy resilience system.
“This project was made possible through an energy resilience community fund grant, part of AusNet’s ongoing commitment to helping communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from prolonged power outages and extreme weather events,” she said.
Using a community-informed approach, the ERCF was developed through conversations and collaboration with councils, local members, community organisations, peak bodies and community members.
Funded projects will improve or increase community energy resilience in their areas, and the third round opened for Energy Resilience and Education and Literacy Grants on Monday 26 May.
Ms de Martino said it’s wonderful seeing such a great program, such as Food is Free Tecoma receive AusNet’s grant to ensure their resilience in times of prolonged power outages.
“They provide such a vital service for people doing it tough, so to see them receive funding to ensure this food never spoils is fabulous,” she said.
At the gathering, Minister Cutler highlighted one of their long-time members and advocates for sustainability at the church, Brian, who installed the church’s very first set of solar panels.
“Brian is a member of this community who, as an early adopter and a passionate climate activist, sought out solar panels for this community, and being an early adopter, got an incredible tariff rate, which has now since been exhausted,” he said.
“He’s someone we’d like to honour for ensuring this church was always thinking about climate and environment.”
Looking forward, the church is aiming to expand, loving the idea of being able to have the capacity to offer a point of refuge.
“We are one of the highest blackout-prone areas in all of Australia, where when we have extended outages and people suffer significant challenges,” said Minister Cutler.
