Thirteen councils and community groups will receive close to $2.4 million, as recipients of AusNet’s Energy Resilience Community Fund Major Grants.
Casey City Council and Baw Baw Shire Council are among the recipients, sharing in almost $150,000 of funding.
Executive General Manager Distribution, Andrew Linnie said the Energy Resilience Community Fund was created by AusNet to fund projects that will build long-term community energy resilience and provide support to communities during the recovery phase of severe weather events.
“These major grant projects will build community energy resilience, delivering important and impactful change to communities across these regions, helping them to stay connected and safe during prolonged outages and emergencies,” said Mr Linnie.
Casey City Council received $63,372 to upgrade three sporting pavilions with shower and power hubs, so they can connect to mobile generators and operate as Emergency Relief Centres.
Those three pavilions are Clyde Recreation Reserve, McNab Recreation Reserve in Cranbourne West and Mick Morland Recreation Reserve in Clyde North.
Baw Baw Shire Council received $75,053 to upgrade five remote community halls so they can connect to mobile generators.
In the Yarra Ranges Shire, the Millgrove Residents Action Group received $277,115 for solar PV, battery storage and an inverter for community infrastructure at the Millwarra Primary School and Millwarra Community Hall.
AusNet established the $12 million Energy Resilience Community Fund following the storms in February last year, to support projects across AusNet’s electricity distribution network in eastern and north-eastern Victoria, and Melbourne’s north and east.
