Australia’s first community owned energy provider expands to Queensland
Since its inception in Byron Bay following protests against coal seam gas fracking, Enova has rolled out services all over New South Wales and to date has almost 10,000 customers. Now the community-owned energy provider has extended its services to residents in South East Queensland.
Chief executive Felicity Stening says, “Our offering is unique in South East Queensland as we were established specifically to support communities to work toward becoming energy self-sufficient.”
Stening says Enova is paving the way for towns and suburbs to generate, store and share their own renewable energy and move away from coal-fired power delivered long distance, by way of expensive powerlines.
Sweetening the deal with $100 bill credit
As a little incentive, Enova is also offering new customers in South East Queensland $100 credit on their first electricity bill. Or if you’re not too fussed about that, instead you can opt to have Enova donate $100 to the Community Living Association in Brisbane on your behalf.
On that note, it is worth mentioning that Enova is also a social enterprise. In fact, 50% of its profits are funnelled back into the community to support community renewable energy projects and education. Some projects Enova supports include the Haystacks Solar Garden in the Riverina region in NSW, a trial of a shared community battery in the Hunter Region in NSW and a microgrid pilot in Byron Bay.
What area will Enova cover in QLD?
In total, Enova will be servicing around 25,000 square kilometres in South East Queensland. This will encompass the whole of the Energex network and will include metro areas such as the Gold Coast, Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Redland, Logan and Moreton Bay.
Not in South East Queensland? If Enova doesn’t service your area, never fear - there are other options when it comes to switching to renewable energy in Australia.
Just head over to Mozo’s energy comparison tool and pop in your postcode to see what is available in your area. You can select to view green energy plans and we’ll even show you what percentage of energy is sourced from renewables for each one.
Or if you want more information before you switch, check out our renewable energy FAQs guide.
