Rewiring Australia seeks local partners for NSW electrification network
Rewiring Australia is seeking at least 15 community organisations across metropolitan and regional NSW to deliver household electrification advice and activities, with grants of up to $30,000 available through a program running until early 2028.
Community organisations across NSW are being recruited to help households navigate home electrification and government rebates under a program designed to establish a network of locally delivered support across the state.
Applications are now open for the Rewiring NSW Communities Program, with Rewiring Australia seeking at least 15 funded partners from metropolitan and regional NSW.
Rather than directly funding household appliances, the program will provide grants and resources to community organisations to deliver local electrification activities. Rewiring Australia says the groups will help households understand how to electrify their homes, access available rebates and make decisions about changing household energy use.
Applications close on Sunday 30 August, with successful community partners due to be announced on 15 September. Training will begin in October before community activities start in November and continue until February 2028.
Grants scale with community programs
Funding will be offered through three partnership levels, with the size of each grant linked to the scale of the activities organisations propose to deliver.
Eight Bronze partners can receive up to $5,000 each for locally focused engagement, with Rewiring Australia expecting each organisation to reach about 180 households.
Five Silver partners can receive up to $15,000, with those projects expected to reach about 360 households. Rewiring Australia specifically identifies organisations working with Renewable Energy Zone communities and other groups that may face barriers to electrification as potential candidates for this funding level.
Two Gold partners will be eligible for grants of up to $30,000 for larger programs expected to reach about 1,500 households each.
Activities can include household advice and education programs, while larger projects may involve regional roadshows or community bulk-buy initiatives. The program guidelines also encourage applications from organisations working in regional NSW, Greater Sydney and Renewable Energy Zone communities.
Local organisations given a delivery role
A central part of the program is Rewiring Australia's decision to use existing community organisations to provide household-level information and support.
Rewiring Australia says local organisations understand the circumstances of their communities and can engage households in ways governments and national organisations sometimes cannot.
Successful partners will receive training covering home electrification and NSW rebates, along with monthly training and peer mentoring. Rewiring Australia will also provide access to advisers and practical resources for organisations delivering activities in their communities.
The program is intended to bring the participating groups together as a statewide network, allowing organisations to share knowledge while tailoring their activities to local circumstances.
Lessons from Illawarra electrification pilot
The new program draws partly on Rewiring Australia's experience with the Electrify 2515 Community Pilot in the northern Illawarra.
The ARENA-backed Electrify 2515 project is being delivered by Brighte, Rewiring Australia and Endeavour Energy and is designed to test community electrification across 500 households.
Unlike the new NSW communities program, Electrify 2515 involves physical household upgrades. The pilot is testing efficient electric appliances, household batteries and home energy monitoring systems while examining how concentrated household electrification affects the local electricity network.
ARENA committed $5.4 million to the pilot, which is also examining barriers to household electrification and the implications for electricity networks.
Early work provides some indication of the practical issues that can arise when electrification moves from information and planning into household installations. An Electrify 2515 customer insights report recorded 13 installers involved in the first stage and 60 households completing installations.
Rewiring Australia says its experience with Electrify 2515 and other NSW initiatives will inform the support provided to organisations taking part in the new communities program.
Household transition moves beyond individual decisions
The NSW program extends that community-based approach without attempting to replicate the subsidised appliance installations being tested in the Illawarra.
Instead, funding community organisations to provide advice and run local programs creates a pathway for electrification information to reach households through existing organisations across metropolitan and regional NSW.
For businesses involved in residential energy, the activities permitted under the program include home advisory services and community bulk-buy programs. As participating organisations begin delivering activities from November, the program see local groups becom conduits between household interest in electrification and the practical decisions involved in adopting electric technologies.
