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Leased Council buildings and facilities produce an estimated 8% of our total emissions.
These emissions are downstream Scope 3 emissions.
Council's Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) allows us to add leased buildings, with the invoices still being issued to the tenant. If we don't and these buildings use non-renewable energy sources we will have to pay annual carbon offsets.
We will follow a similar process to the actions identified for reducing energy in Council facilities by incorporating highest consumers in EER and facility assessments and extending the PPA to leased assets in the future.
To include leased buildings to our PPA, Council needs to reach an agreement with tenants around electricity supply, ask tenants to provide details to complete a 'Roll-In' form, and send the completed form to Red Energy. The biggest hurdle is contacting tenants, especially where facilities are managed by voluntary Committees of Management with high turnover and resulting loss of knowledge around electricity accounts.
Some tenants of Council facilities have gaps in their data, or are otherwise unable to provide Council their utilities data. Filling these data gaps is important to understanding the scale of emissions Council needs to address.
Information includes status of facility (tenanted, CoM) and best contact.
The new owners of the Rutherglen Caravan Park (HPM Australia) have joined Council's VECO, having previous experience operating a park in Gippsland that also was on VECO.
Adding leased buildings to Council's VECO will involve the following steps:
Constructed in May 2022, the tennis courts at Baarmutha Park in Beechworth are leased by the Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club. Their retailer was Red Energy but their plan was not on Green Power. Switching their account to Council's VECO has reduced emissions to zero and save the club money.
The newly constructed Chiltern Hub at Crawford St Chiltern, has been added to Council's VECO account via a Red Energy Roll-In form.
The recently restored/renovated Beechworth Gang Plate Layers Cottage at 3A Harper St Beechworth, has been added to Council's VECO account via a Red Energy Roll-In form. Beechworth Lions Club is the tenant.
The Beechworth Railway Station, at 3B Harper St, has been added to Council's VECO account via a Red Energy Roll-In form. Beechworth U3A is the tenant.
Staff time
Offsets from Scope 3 (tenant energy) emissions
Items to address include uniformity and transparency in approach to utilities accounts in leased facilities, equity and fairness is approaching tenants, and potential costs, benefits and risks.