Meet our Community Energy Participants
Ana Spataru, Village Power Board Member
Perseverance has prevailed. Our first cohort of 48 households has now virtually subscribed to the Village Power Community Energy Program. They are the pioneers, and what they have told us about themselves and their motivations paints a vivid picture of the community we are all part of.
We thought you would want to meet them.
An experienced, committed group
The majority of Community Energy Program participants are aged between 50 and 69, participants that have had time to invest in their homes and their convictions. A remarkable 75% of the cohort already have rooftop solar, and many have had it for years, including one household with rooftop solar since 2012. Another fully de-gassed their home in 2025. Among the participants we have those with a PassivHaus household, heat pumps, EVs, and induction. This is not a group discovering clean energy, it is a group who has been living it.
They did the hard work for themselves but they also see the value of joining a community battery, as one participant put it best:
"Because we're keen to help decentralise energy production and think community batteries are a great way of ensuring everyone has access to cheaper power.”
While 75% of people have rooftop solar, only 23% have a home battery. Half of all households have only one clean energy or energy efficient system at home, be it rooftop solar, home battery, EV or induction. For many the community battery just makes sense. And with the unique proposition of being able to virtually be part of how it operates, the decision was simple.
At the other end, 25% of households have no clean energy or energy efficiency systems, mainly citing structural barriers rather than motivations. It is also the cohort that unsurprisingly is the one renting or living in apartments. Several participants called their household “a renewable energy disaster” due to the rooftop orientation, reliance on gas or inability to get landlord approval. For them, a model as proposed by Village Power is not a nice to have but the only option to access clean energy.
One strong sentiment from the group was the desire to move away from gas. Sixty percent indicated they want to switch their gas appliances to electric over the course of the program. Whether that means a new induction cooktop, a heat pump hot water system, or a full household de-gas, we are confident that together we'll be able to help members navigate the options and the practicalities.
This leads to the last key point participants made. Commitment. Participants were asked what program activities they were willing to take on over the next 12 months as part of the program. Ninety-four percent said they would read monthly materials. Eighty-eight percent said they would attend group events. And 40%, the single largest group, ticked every single activity on offer. Every one! That level of commitment is extraordinary and we are just as keen to match the dedication.
Participation motivation was multi-facaded but primarily instilled by a sense of community, learning, co-operation, independence, and strong environmental and climate action.
"We need to transition to a low carbon energy as quickly as possible. Local systems not only make good sense from an energy saving perspective, they are good for social cohesion."
We are hosting our first Community Energy Program meeting on 29 April. This will be the first opportunity for everyone to meet each other and share their perspective.
Registrations remain open for the second intake and we encourage others to sign up, get involved or support the work we do.
Thank you for being part of this journey, and every one of you, participants, members, and supporters alike, has made it possible.