Mildura Rural City Council partners with local tennis club to reduce energy bills

A partnership between Mildura Rural City Council, the Victorian Government and Sacred Heart and St Andrews Tennis Club could see more than $1,300 cut from the club’s energy bills and 13 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions reduced each year.

With Council’s support, the club successfully applied for funding through Sustainability Victoria’s Community Climate Change and Energy Action Program to install a 7.47kW solar PV system on its clubrooms.

Treasurer Robyn Herberte said the club expected to pay off its share of the solar PV system in less than four years due to the resulting electricity cost savings, which she said would relieve a significant burden from club volunteers.

Herberte shared “we are a totally volunteer-run club and by reducing our energy costs it will save hundreds of hours of volunteer time fundraising each year.

“This in turn will free up our volunteers to focus on other areas, such as the maintenance and upkeep of our courts and facilities, so this will have other flow-on benefits.

“Plus, we’re also reducing our impact on the environment by cutting our greenhouse gas emissions, which is another important benefit.”

Mildura Mayor Liam Wood said the Sacred Heart and St Andrews Tennis Club was the latest in a string of local clubs and organisations to benefit from Sustainability Victoria’s Community Climate Change and Energy Action Program.

Mayor Wood added “last year alone we partnered with two local clubs to slash more than $22,000 from their energy bills and almost 100 tonnes in greenhouse gas emissions through this same program, which is a positive result.

“It’s great to see this program continuing to deliver results for both our community and the environment.”