“Scrap the patchwork:” CEC calls for single, national community payment scheme for renewables projects

The Clean Energy Council has called for the creation of a national scheme that would set a “single, legislated rate” for payments made to the local governments of regional communities hosting large-scale wind, solar and battery projects.

CEC chief Jackie Trad announced the proposed Renewable Resources Payment scheme at the Clean Energy Summit in Sydney on Tuesday morning, as a way to provide a permanent funding stream for communities hosting Australia’s clean energy infrastructure.

Under the proposal, local councils hosting the projects would receive the payments and determine how they are spent, recognising they are best placed to understand the priorities of their communities.

Trad says the national scheme would replace the “patchwork of community benefit funds, grants and negotiated payments,” removing confusion and rebuilding trust.  

“The fundamental problem this industry has is trust. We do not have enough of it in the places where we build: regional and rural Australia,” Trad told the summit in Sydney.

“Under the proposal, every megawatt-hour of renewable electricity would attract a legislated payment, paid directly to the local councils hosting the infrastructure for the life of the project. 

“Scrap the patchwork. Replace it with something simple, permanent and public, the same way coal and gas pay royalties,” Trad said.

The call comes as the renewable energy industry struggles to secure the social licence it needs to deliver the wind, solar and storage projects at the rate and pace needed to meet Australia’s target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030 – and to replace outgoing coal.

The difficulty has been particularly acute in Queensland, where the state LNP government’s new planning rules require developers to complete social impact assessments (SIA) and enter into “binding” community benefit agreements (CBA) with local governments before they can apply for state approval.

The CEC – potentially anticipating a similar policy about-face in Victoria, if the Labor party is ousted at the state election in November – thinks a national approach to community payments could remove a lot of the heat from the often fraught consultation process, take pressure off councils and guide developers.

“I know how this sounds,” Trad told the summit. “It is not every day an industry CEO stands at a podium and volunteers to replace the way an entire industry invests in its host communities.

“And I concede the design will take work – the rate, the thresholds, the mechanism, how existing projects transition. Reasonable people will argue over every one of those details, and they should.

“So when we debate this, weigh the cost of a Renewable Resources Payment against the cost of what we have now,” Trad says.

“Every project that spends three extra years in contested approvals. Every project that dies in a hostile council chamber. Every town hall that fills against us because nobody in that hall can point to a single thing our industry has built for their town.

“Distrust is the most expensive line item in this industry, and we pay it every single day.

“A legislated payment is cheaper. It is easy to understand – and when you understand something, you can trust it. And it delivers what communities call for most: agency, ownership, self-determination.

“The turbines on the ridge become the reason the pool got built, the main street got fixed, the childcare centre opened. When the money is visible, permanent and locally controlled, the compact starts to mend. And when the compact mends, the politics follows.”

RE-Alliance national director Andrew Bray says a move towards greater clarity and visibility around community payments makes good sense, but would need careful consultation and design.

“[A national scheme] could help build trust and give communities more confidence that they will share in the value being created when hosting renewables infrastructure,” Bray told Renew Economy on Tuesday.

“In fact, several states are already moving in this direction through community benefit and local government arrangements, so there is merit in exploring a more consistent national approach. 

“It’s important to note communities are likely to have a range of views about whether local government is always the right body to administer the funds. Like everything, scheme design will matter and genuine consultation will be key.” 

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