By Violet Li
Casey Council will receive over $56,000 in two grants from AusNet’s Energy Resilience Community Fund.
About $6,660 will be used for an energy efficiency awareness multilingual video. The video will be produced and translated into Hindi, Hazaraghi, and Sinhalese to address the gap in energy efficiency education among diverse groups in Casey. The video will be shown and distributed widely throughout local schools, community centres, council’s social media platforms and websites.
According to the City of Casey manager Active Communities Angie Peresso, filming for the video is anticipated in the coming months, with final translated versions expected to be ready in February or March 2025.
Another $50,000 will be used to fund solar batteries at two community facilities, Fairhaven Family and Community Centre in Cranbourne West and Arbourlea Family and Community Centre in Cranbourne North, providing backup power support for residents in emergencies.
According to the project summary by AusNet, Casey Council currently doesn’t have buildings that can operate during a blackout, which limits the ability to provide support to residents during extreme weather.
“During storms in February and September 2024, Council successfully activated emergency Power and Shower Hubs at Casey community facilities, these temporary hubs provided support to our community during these extreme weather events,” Ms Peresso said.
“The grant will assist in bolstering future emergency responses. It is anticipated that the batteries will be installed and commissioned in Mid-2025.”
AusNet established the $12 million Energy Resilience Community Fund following the storms in February this year.
In this round, about eighteen Energy Resilience Grants have been awarded, totalling close to $535,000, while six Energy Education and Literacy Grants of over $116,000 have also been provided.
They will fund projects across AusNet’s electricity distribution network in eastern and north-eastern Victoria, and Melbourne’s north and east.
