Western Sydney councils have saved ratepayers tens of millions of dollars – and massively reduced carbon emissions – by working together on local sustainable energy projects and by jointly negotiating 100% renewable power purchase agreements with energy providers.

The latest Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) annual report reveals that the councils have saved over $24 million and reduced their combined greenhouse emissions by 338,000 tonnes of CO²e, equivalent to taking 460,000 cars off the road.

$24 million in savings were made by installing 51,000 of the latest energy-saving LED streetlights across Western Sydney over the last eight years — with an additional 60,000 streetlights to be changed to LEDs in the coming two years.

WSROC is the peak body representing most councils in the Greater Western Sydney area, home to over 2,268,000 people and covering an area of more than 9,000 square kilometres.

“WSROC has been working closely with councils and Endeavor Energy to replace inefficient streetlights to LED lights,” said WSROC President, Councillor Barry Calvert.

“And we partnered with Local Government Procurement (LGP) to negotiate a Supply of Electricity and Green Power and a Solar Power Purchase Agreement, saving our member councils tens of millions of dollars.

LGP is a not-for-profit organisation who provide and share procurement expertise with councils.

To further reduce carbon emissions, WSROC’s Western Sydney Electric Vehicle (EV) Roadmap project provides Western Sydney councils with strategic direction to transition to electric transport and progress the provisioning of EV charging infrastructure in the region.

“Eight councils have also joined forces on the Western Sydney Electric Vehicle Roadmap project, which has set ambitious 2030 targets including having at least a 50% of council fleets transitioned to electric vehicles, 100% of buses to be zero emissions and 50% of all taxis, car shares and ferries to be zero emissions.

“WSROC is stepping up for small businesses in the energy space, too,” said Councillor Calvert.

“WSROC’s Business Energy Advice Program, funded by the NSW Department of Industry Science Energy & Resources and delivered by Business Australia, conducted over 1,000 free small businesses consultations over the year, saving each business an annual average of $1,394.”

“WSROC staff also worked tirelessly to promote understanding of waste and resource recovery in our communities, and WSROC has achieved significant advocacy outcomes including the reinvestment of WestConnex sale proceeds via the WestInvest program.”

Other issues covered in the 2021-2022 WSROC annual report include:

• Western Sydney is leading the way in developing a resilience-based approach to heat management.
• WSROC programs are strengthening councils’ provision of sustainable, affordable waste services.
• Greater Western Sydney’s population is growing at such a rate that it will need to house more than one million additional people by 2031.
• WSROC has made submissions to the National Construction Code Updates (Residential and Commercial) and advocated for Western Sydney’s transition to electric vehicles.

— and much more!

To download a copy of the 2021-2022 WSROC Annual Report, go to this ink.