What to do if the solar or powerline company comes knocking
A mix of uncertainty and high pressure sales tactics from a new breed of prospectors is tearing at the fabric of rural communities in government-designated renewables hot spots.
Gippsland farmer Rosemary Irving puts it bluntly. "They'll just start up wherever they can crack a farmer who either doesn't live on the place or is such a bad farmer, they're seduced by the extra income," she said. "We're not troglodytes. We know we've got to have renewable energy but there are obviously better ways of doing it."
Ms Irving's community sits in a Renewable Energy Zone. It's an area earmarked for large renewable facilities following forecasts that over 26 gigawatts of new grid-scale renewables will be required by 2040.
Most state governments have created REZs that carry incentives to develop wind, solar and other renewable projects in the zones.
Ms Irving's district is being scoped by three renewables developers. One of them, Solis RE, wants to build a 4000 hectare, or 10,000 acre, solar farm with batteries five times the capacity of South Australia's massive Tesla battery.
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Stop Labor’s Towers is demanding better consultation and a genuine process to consider alternatives.
The Regional Victoria Power Alliance comprises landowners, residents and community group concerned about the impacts of this project on our lives, land, environment, community and future generations.