ENERGY TRANSITION

Leading lord mayoral candidate wants to put Perth on green path

AS the cities of Adelaide and Sydney flicked over to 100% renewable energy this week, leading Lord Mayoral candidate for the City of Perth Di Bain said it should be the west-coast capital’s turn to make the switch.

 Oz capital cities switch to 100% renewables, when will it be Perth's turn?

Oz capital cities switch to 100% renewables, when will it be Perth's turn?

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Bain, who is married to Strike Energy chair and billionaire John Poynton, praised Moore's work and said it was time for Perth to start soaking up the sun. 

"The City of Perth needs a Lord Mayor that will focus on the future to get our city back on track," she wrote.  

"As Lord Mayor, I will embrace renewable technologies - such as solar lighting, panels and community batteries - to make the City of Perth carbon neutral."

The NSW and SA capitals made the shift on Wednesday, meaning all the cities' corporate and community buildings, council event infrastructure, electric vehicle chargers, street lighting, water pumps, traffic lights and even barbecues will be operated by renewable electricity. 

The switch is expected to save both city council's millions of dollars as each now access their power from rural renewable energy sources.  

"We are in the middle of a climate emergency. If we are to reduce emissions and grow the green power sector, all levels of government must urgently transition to renewable energy," Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore said. 

Earlier this week, the City of Perth committed A$20 million over the next year to revitalise the city in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as office workers slowly start to return to their jobs after months in lockdown. 

Its COVID-19 Economic Rebound Strategy does not feature any energy measures as part of its stimulus. 

"We don't have anything related to energy from an Economic Rebound point of view, but we are definitely working on amazing business as usual initiatives in this space," a City of Perth spokesman told Energy News. 

She noted the city's sustainability officer, Jessica Holmes, is the Western Australian program manager for CitySwitch, a group that helps office buildings to improve energy and waste efficiency. 

The Perth Council has been rocked by multiple scandals over the last several years, leading to the entire council to either resign or be stood down, grinding future planning to a halt. 

Commissioner Tony Power led an inquiry into the council's dysfunction, making 250 findings and 341 recommendations in an exhaustive report released this week, including referring a number of suspected instances of criminal behaviour to police.

"The community deserved better. It should have been service to the community before self-entitlement, not the other way around," he said. 

Meanwhile down in Rockingham, Wester Power unveiled the latest Tesla battery installed, part of its PowerBank project it is trialling alongside Synergy. 

"The City of Rockingham has experienced an eight-fold increase in uptake of solar panels in the past 10 years and being one of the first locations to secure a community battery reinforces the city's commitment to supporting green energy initiatives," premier Mark McGowan said. 

 

 

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