Community Energy Outreach Program - Round 1 Grant

New South Wales is undergoing a radical transformation in how we buy and use energy. This gives huge opportunities for households and small businesses to reduce power bills, increase energy efficiency, and contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the Consumer Energy Strategy (the strategy), the new Community Energy Outreach Program  will ensure communities are aware, engaged and educated about how they buy and use energy. This will enable them to access trusted tools and make informed energy choices in their own communities, ensuring no one is left behind and everyone can benefit.

The program will:

• Co-fund community organisations to deliver new community energy outreach initiatives. This funding for grassroots engagement will educate and empower households and small businesses, through community events such as on the ground face-to-face engagement (such as ‘bring your bill’ days)
• Provide grant funding to community-based organisations across NSW. These organisations will help ensure all our diverse audiences, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and rural and regional areas are included in the energy transition.

The program will deliver grants across three years. Round 1 grant will be delivered across financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26, with the next round of grants aiming to be launched by August 2025.

The aim of the Round 1 grant funding is to expand and strengthen energy literacy activities that are currently being delivered and/or can be resourced quickly. These must deliver positive energy outcomes for communities in 2025 to help them understand and control their energy use and bills.

The grant funding should be used to:

• build capability of community organisations to deliver energy literacy activities for households and/or small businesses
• build capacity within the community organisation sector to increase energy outreach activities
• educate households and/or small businesses (energy literacy)
• increase the number of outreach activities to increase the number of households and small businesses benefiting from the education.

There is, no one size fits all when providing support to different communities across NSW and this grant allows organisations to deliver engagement and education outreach that best suits the communities they service.