A collective energy

Two local businesses are saving money and powering their communities since becoming renewable energy host sites as part of the Mycelia Energy Collective: The Archies Creek Hotel and The Mill Studio.

These businesses are now powered by solar and batteries and sharing their excess energy with members of the Collective that don't have their own renewable energy.

The batteries were an important addition, as they capture some of the excess solar, a proportion of which is used onsite, and some exported to help meet high energy demand in the evening peak time.

The installations were delivered in partnership, with local installation and solar specialists Sunscape Solar. The Mycelia Energy Collective provided the installations at no upfront costs and through contract arrangements that see both businesses reducing their energy costs by up to 40 per cent.

Owner of The Mill Studio, Andy Stewart, says: "Running a studio uses a lot of energy, and I've always wanted to find a way to address this consumption by generating more power here on the property.

"It's awesome that organisations like Mycelia are finding local solutions and making it easy to get on board with renewables. Feels like we all have some catching up to do.

"There are plenty of days where I don't turn on the recording console. I'm glad to know the power I'm not using can benefit other people who can't have panels, for whatever reason. Sharing energy makes sense."

Collective

The Mycelia Energy Collective, for those who haven't heard, is a community of households, businesses and community groups generating and sharing renewable energy.

Based in Bass Coast, it's more than an energy deal and open to anyone in Victoria. The Collective works on 'matched energy'; some members have rooftop solar and/or batteries, and some have neither. Members with excess renewable energy feed it into the Collective, and those without or not enough energy draw from the grid. Mycelia's partners - The People's Grid and Circular Energy - use a unique algorithm to account for energy used and generated across the Collective in five-minute intervals. What cannot be generated from within the Collective is purchased elsewhere, with a preference for renewables.

The Mycelia Energy Collective has been growing steadily in membership since it launched last year.

Over 60 per cent of members reported a cost savings since switching providers, and a whopping 95 per cent of members report that they feel like they are doing good through their energy bills.

In addition, the Collective has been rolling out a home energy assessments program to low-income households, a series of community-led peer learning events and is gearing up to offer bulk buys on solar panels and batteries in 2024.

Moragh Mackay, Managing Director says: "We'll be reaching out to small and medium sized businesses this year. They get hit the hardest by high peak rates during the day – and we want to help reduce their energy bills.

"Energy matching works best when we have predictable energy use patterns, which is often the case with businesses. Many homes with panels generate energy during the day, sell it to the energy company only to purchase it back at a higher rate in the evening.

"We'll be using energy use data from across the Collective to encourage more businesses and households to use energy during the day, when it is abundant, or determine where more batteries should be located to capture excess energy and share that at affordable rates in the evening."

If you're interested in joining the Mycelia Energy Collective, you can jump online to check how their rates compare with what you're paying now. Swapping energy providers takes about five minutes.

Details: www.thepeoplesgrid.com/collectives/mycelia-energy-collective