Our passion is finding creative, simple solutions to complex energy problems, like:
– transitioning 337 apartments across 20 Government owned buildings to net zero emissions, while creating employment for marginalised people. You can ready about St Kilda Community Housing’s “transition to zero” project here;
– making Australia’s first zero emission housing development [The Cape Paterson Ecovillage], including electric vehicles, a compelling financial proposition for home buyers;
– creating a viable model for switching a regional community of five hundred homes to 100% renewable energy, while returning financial dividends that support community aspirations beyond energy. You can read about Renewable Newstead here.
Our business name is a play on the Gettysburg address – a common reference point for the birth of modern democracy. For democracy to work effectively, people need to be engaged and informed, and to have faith and trust in their elected representatives. This doesn’t just happen on it’s own, it requires effort and constant diligence to ensure The People’s interests are being served.
We see our core role in a democratic energy market being the provision of independent, clean energy services – ensuring our clients understand their energy options, and can make well informed energy decisions. This builds trust, and is critical to ensuring the great energy market transition we are experiencing will serve the interests of The People. To help accelerate the democratic transformation of Australia’s energy market, we design and build platform solutions that make trusted, integrated clean energy solutions easy to deploy at scale. Check out www.thepeoplessolar.com for the kind of thing we like to do. But the transition of our energy market is not just about new technologies. It’s about new ways of doing business which align commercial, social and environmental interests. We have become a certified B Corp, embedding social intelligence in our commercial operations, and ensuring our ongoing commitment to tackling broader social issues, such as wealth inequality and food sovereignty.
Energy for the People (EFTP) was established in 2012 by Tosh Szatow and Alex Houlston, with the vision of helping to create and inspire a new energy market, which works for the people, by the people.