Dear Editor
Further to the research workshop held on Saturday 26 August, Community Power Australia ("CPA") initiated the workshop as part of research being undertaken by the Institute of Sustainable Futures at University of Technology Sydney. They are Federally funded and the only involvement of MICDA and Totally Renewable Magnetic was to ensure a number of stakeholders were invited by CPA.
The purpose of the workshop was to discuss how prepared Magnetic Island's community was for the impact on the electricity supply from cyclones, fire, flood and any other adverse climate related events.
Amongst other things, the workshop considered the community level of preparedness, including how the vulnerable in the community could be better protected, how their health needs could be considered, how the visitors to the Island could be better informed and prepared, what would happen in the event of a fire, flood or storm surge and what could be done to coordinate and share resources until supply is reinstated. Being prepared and thinking about these things from a community perspective is simply prudent.
Later this year we will all benefit from the outputs from this research and should learn from the other 5 communities how they are prepared for disruptions to their electricity supply.
Ergon's electricity prices did increase on 30 June 2023. For this reason Totally Renewable Magnetic is holding a seminar at Peppers on 16 September 2023 at 10am to outline what those price rises mean and how to use electricity more effectively and efficiently in the home. We will also outline how to get to net zero as a household.
Kind regards
Joe Niven
Coordinator - Totally Renewable Magnetic