Adelaide Hills Energy Co-op
“Every roof we fit belongs to the community already. The savings stay in the hall, the pool and the footy club instead of leaving the Hills.”
Community energy society
Mount Barker, South Australia
Adelaide Hills Energy Co-op was formed by residents who were tired of watching community buildings run on power bills they could not afford. The halls, the swimming centre, the men's shed and the sports clubs across the Hills all had the roof space for solar and none of the capital, and every one of them was cutting opening hours to cover electricity.
Member shares had paid for the co-op's first two installations, but raising the money one roof at a time meant a project every couple of years. The co-op needed to move at the pace of the buildings that were asking for help, not the pace of its share offers.
A Green Loan from Charity Bank Australia let the co-op install solar across a programme of public buildings in a single season, with battery storage on the three sites that matter most in a power outage. Each host building signs an agreement that leaves it better off from the first bill; the co-op holds and maintains the systems, and the surplus funds the next installation.
Nineteen community buildings now generate most of their own daytime power. The swimming centre went back to its full summer opening hours, two halls have dropped their hire rates for local groups, and the sports club that used to switch its lights off at eight now trains through the evening. The battery sites have become the places the district plugs in when the grid goes down in a heat event or a fire, which in the Hills is not a hypothetical.
The co-op went to Charity Bank Australia because it wanted a lender whose own position on climate matched the project rather than one that treated community energy as a novelty. The bank understood a co-operative's structure and its member-share funding, and the Green Loan was assessed on the energy the programme would generate and the buildings it would keep open. The co-op's directors — all volunteers — say the process was explained in a way they could take back to a members' meeting.
“Every roof we fit belongs to the community already. The savings stay in the hall, the pool and the footy club instead of leaving the Hills.”
Tomas Ricci, Chair of Adelaide Hills Energy Co-op
About Charity Bank Australia
Charity Bank Australia is the loans and savings bank owned by and committed to supporting the social sector. We use our savers’ money to lend to housing, education, social care, community and other social purpose organisations across Australia.
Nothing in this article constitutes an invitation to engage in investment activity nor is it advice or a recommendation and professional advice should be taken before any course of action is pursued.
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