Many regional communities perceive the renewables rollout as something being done to them, not with them, but research suggests views are not fixed. RE-Alliance is pushing for the federal government to fund Local Energy Hubs to lead conversations on the energy transition in regional areas.

“When a [renewable energy] development is contested, there is a void that can be filled with misinformation because there is no sense of the broader energy transition plan,” Peter Lewis, principal of Essential Media says. “Politicians talk about acronyms, targets and megawatt hours while people just see a new piece of infrastructure proposed for a place they love.”

The key theme of recent research that has been conducted is that communities feel the transition is “being done to them not with them”, and they are being asked to tolerate what they perceive as a net negative.

Local Energy Hubs could help deal regional communities in to local discussions of the renewable energy shift in the way they need to be.

Read ‘A void filled with misinformation’: The communication struggle in Australia’s renewables rollout' in WA Today.