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WHERE KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
I
n the wide expanse of the Northern
Territory, small indigenous
communities are quite a common
feature of the landscape.
Around 20 years ago, many of these
remote communities shifted from having
power provided as a government service
to having meters installed and the people
paying for power, which was being
delivered across small diesel-powered mini
grids. However, this change may not have
been fully understood by many residents
at the time and subsequently they have
quite often suffered power outages simply
by poor consumption habits.
Recently, a consortium partnership led
by power, water and sewerage services
provider, Power andWater Corporation
(PWC), completed an extensive energy
efficiency education program in six remote
communities in East Arnhem Land.
The Manymak Energy Efficiency Project,
or the Dharray Manymakkung Pawaw Ga
Gapuw project as it was known locally,
was designed to help local communities
to improve energy and water efficiency
outcomes as well as building capacity
within those communities.
It was one of 20 projects across
Australia to receive funding through
the Federal Government’s Low Income
Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP),
which was established to provide
grants to trial approaches to improve
the energy efficiency of low income
households and enable them to better
manage their energy use.
“From very early on in the project
we were told that if we wanted to
educate people in these communities
about water and power consumption,
it needed be done in the right way,
by their own people and in the local
language for it to mean anything,” says
PWC’s remote operations manager of
demand management Sam Latz.
“In these communities there are a lot
of people living quite traditionally, with
varying levels of education in English.
They don’t necessarily subscribe to the
Western ways of thinking about the
world and when coupled with low levels
of English literacy and numeracy, it can
be quite difficult for them to understand
mainstream government systems and why
things have to happen in certain ways.
“Out of this grew the need to recruit
and employ local people, to train them
to then be able to provide education
to their community. That was the
cornerstone of this project.
“So we adopted a very respectful
approach. We wanted to help residents to
make sure they were using their money
the best way they could. We weren’t telling
them how to spend their money; we just
wanted to make sure they were getting
the best value on their power costs.”
Launching in Milingimbi, the project
also rolled out into Galiwinku, Gapuwiyak,
Yirrkala, Gunyangara and Ramingining.
“Many of these communities are
actually very water stressed, running off
limited water sources, and it costs a lot
more money to ship in water than it does
THE ROLLOUT OF AN ENERGY
EFFICIENCY EDUCATION
PROGRAM IN RURAL NT
LOOKS TO ‘DEMYSTIFY’
POWER CONSUMPTION TO THE
INDIGENOUS POPULATION.
PAUL
SKELTON
REPORTS.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
SUMME R 20 1 6