Several Yack locals have been telling their stories and that of the town’s renewable transition recently. The result of a lengthy day of interviews and photos has appeared in today’s The Age, ‘I haven’t paid a bill since 2008’: Country towns empower themselves (note this article is behind a paywall). Benjamin Preiss interviewed our very own post master, Chris Horton, Ben Gilbert at his Agency of Sculpture, postie Dave, TRY’s acting President, Matthew Charles-Jones, and 14-year olds Charlie Pinard and Eadie Hartwig, with some beautiful photos of everyone and the town.
The article describes how, despite the high current cost of batteries, financial benefits are attracting businesses and households to take the leap and generate their own power. Chris Horton has saved over $5000 in power bills at the post office since installing panels in October 2020 and Matthew hasn’t paid a power bill since 2008.
But there are other strong motivations besides the cost savings and the article discusses developments in Mallacoota since the Black Summer bushfires and Phillip Island which show the multiple benefits that the energy transition is bringing to regional towns. It’s a fantastic article and a great summary of both the benefits and reasons that communities are making changes. If you can get a copy of The Age, check it out!
