Camden Council has joined the Western Sydney Energy Program in a bid to lower community energy costs and reduce carbon emissions.
Coordinated by Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC), the program is a collaboration between eight Western Sydney councils dedicated to realising energy cost and emission savings for participating councils and their communities.
“It’s fantastic to be one of the eight councils across Western Sydney that makes up this program,” said Camden Mayor, Therese Fedeli.
“It works to achieve energy cost and emission savings for our communities, which is fantastic. As one of the fastest growing local government areas in the country, Camden welcomes more than 100 new residents every week,” she said.
“It’s important that we work hard to look after the environment around us, as well as help our residents live happily and comfortably – and helping to lower community energy costs will go a long way to doing that.
“I look forward to getting more involved and seeing what we can do together.”
The Western Sydney Energy program focuses on four areas of activity:
- Renewable Energy Transformation: including the installation of low cost, low emission energy generation and storage.
- Transport: emphasising transport infrastructure to deliver a low cost and low emission future.
- Supporting communities: by helping communities access services to reduce energy costs.
- Facilities and precincts: through implementing best practice in energy planning and design for key precincts and facilities.
“Each year, the Western Sydney Energy Program works with member councils across a wide range of projects such as lighting and equipment upgrades, EV readiness, solar installations, and other initiatives,” saidWSROC President, Councillor Barry Calvert.
“The program has saved councils $24 million to date.”
Recent initiatives by the Western Sydney Energy Programinclude the rollout of 52,200 new energy-saving LED streetlights, replacing less efficient ‘mercury vapour’ light bulbs.
“The CO2 emissions reductions from that project alone are equivalent to taking 460,000 cars off the road and are expected to save 40,000 tonnes of greenhouse gasses,” said Cr Calvert.
“In the Renewable Energy space, the Program has focused on such initiatives as Virtual Power Plants, Community Batteries, the implementation of a Regional EV Roadmap focused on electric vehicle fleet transition and the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
“Western Sydney is undoubtedly large and growing. However, our infrastructure, economy and community provide both challenges and opportunities relating to energy.
“Having Camden Council join the Western Sydney Energy Program will greatly enhance the program’s potential for integrated planning and investments to further future-proof the region and increase its resilience.”
The Western Sydney Energy Program was recently highlighted in the Australian Government’s December 2022 report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Councils participating in the Western Sydney Energy Program are:
- Blacktown City
- Blue Mountains City
- Camden Council
- Cumberland City
- Hawkesbury City
- The Hills Shire City
- Liverpool City
- Parramatta City
For details about the Western Sydney Energy Program, go to https://wsroc.com.au/projects/project-western-sydney-energy-program.
