EnergyAustralia’s unique approach to community engagement and how it is accelerating the clean energy transition

As one of Australia’s big three generators and retailers, EnergyAustralia takes its role in the national energy transition very seriously. So, what is the organisation doing to help Australia lower its carbon emissions, and how does it ensure the community is engaged in the process?

David Wilson , Head of Community Engagement, says a combination of new infrastructure and repurposed sites will see EnergyAustralia make a sizeable contribution to the clean energy transition in coming years. And with a commensurate – and innovative – focus on outreach, it hopes the surrounding communities will see benefit from its activities.

“We are investing significantly in a number of projects – leveraging the social licence we already have to operate on existing sites, and building fresh support for new projects,” Mr Wilson said.

Expanding its existing sites

Currently EnergyAustralia is working on a number of major storage solutions. Alongside the Lake Lyell pumped hydro project outside of Lithgow, it is developing three grid scale batteries.

Its Wooreen battery at Latrobe Valley adjoins its Jeeralang power station; and its Hallett battery in South Australia adjoins its Hallett power station. Meanwhile, a third battery is in development at Mount Piper.

Mr Wilson says these co-locations are important for community engagement.

“We try to co-locate a lot of this new energy infrastructure with existing infrastructure, so that it reduces the impact on the community in which it’s delivered. That way we can leverage some of the social licence we already have to operate on those sites.

“However, it needs to be an ongoing conversation with the community. We need to emphasise the role these hubs will continue to play in employment and local procurement and, more broadly, educate people on the importance of storage as part of a low emission energy driven grid,” he said.

Transparency

Mr Wilson is also upfront with communities about next steps for each project. This has been particularly important for its Yallourn power station, which EnergyAustralia has made a public commitment to close in 2028.

“We need to bring the community on the journey with us, so they understand what a future without significant coal mines will look like.

“For example, what residual lands may be available for community use; and in what ways can the community have a real buy in to what the future holds,” he said.

While Mr Wilson admits community engagement outcomes can fluctuate, he said transparency always goes a long way.

“There are times we get it really right and other times we may miss the mark. But I think the key thing is that we’re honest and the intention behind transparent engagement should never waiver,” he said. Community benefit sharing

Alongside measures to educate communities on the broader benefit of clean energy infrastructure, EnergyAustralia is helping local people directly profit from them.

Its community benefit sharing model is a tailored and creative approach, whereby neighbours of large scale projects can enjoy funding injections into areas that matter to them.

Different to compensation, community benefit sharing ensures communities are rewarded and recognised for hosting the infrastructure.

“It’s fair to say that regional communities do the heavy lifting of hosting energy generation infrastructure. Community benefit sharing enables the direction of resources to regional communities – communities that are directly impacted by the transition of our energy system away from coal, and towards new low emission, renewable energy generation.

“It recognises the impact that comes with hosting critical infrastructure and celebrates the contribution neighbouring communities make. It then supports them with additional resources that makes a meaningful difference to their quality of life.”

To this end, EnergyAustralia recently announced the ‘Light the Way’ Community Future Funds, associated with its Wooreen and Hallett batteries. Under this initiative, local communities can access hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of grants, on top of existing grant programs the company provides.

“We’ve also got partnerships with local tertiary education institutions, so that people who are interested in renewable energy projects and in the energy transition can gain the skills that they need to contribute in a really direct and tangible way,” Mr Wilson said.

In addition, the organisation is installing batteries on community halls, to help locals take advantage of their existing rooftop panels.

“In some communities, people primarily hire community halls at night, when energy from their solar panels is not available – which means they are still using a lot of electricity from the grid.

“With the batteries we are providing them, they can get more from their rooftop panels and, of course, directly benefit from our involvement in their area.”

A nimble approach

EnergyAustralia is also tailoring its communication style and ensuring its messages are accessible to locals.

“It’s all very well to go through a fairly formulaic process about how we communicate things. But if it doesn’t work for that community, then the value of community engagement is somewhat diminished.”

Depending on the demographic and their communication preferences, the organisation varies its use of digital versus traditional engagement tools.

“As a business this has been a big focus of our community engagement efforts over the last twelve months. We recently opened a shopfront in Morwell near our Yallourn and Jeeralang power station to support our direct engagement with the community. This builds on a similar shopfront we opened in Lithgow late last year to support our new energy projects in the region.

“We are always looking at ways in which we can improve it and make it more relevant.”

Further insight

Sharing more insights into EnergyAustralia’s community engagement strategy, David Wilson will present at the upcoming Energy Infrastructure and Community Engagement Conference, hosted by Informa Connect.

This year’s event will be held 12-13 November at the Swissotel Sydney.

Register your tickets here.

About David Wilson

David Wilson is a communications and engagement practitioner with over 15 years’ experience across major transport and energy infrastructure projects, including the Sydney Metro, Parramatta Light Rail, Lake Lyell Pumped Hydro Storage Project and the Tallawarra B Power Station. In March this year, he was appointed as Head of Community Engagement for EnergyAustralia.

David has worked on projects on both the client and contractor site and understands the different nuances associated with engagement depending on which side of this relationship you sit. He is a passionate supporter of early and transparent engagement to build consensus within a community and stakeholder base.

David also brings government relations experience to his engagement approach, having worked in electorate and ministerial offices in advisory roles.