A PROJECTED drop in electricity costs for one local golf club after switching to solar power is helping them expand their membership to more female and junior players.<\/p>\n
The Bendigo Golf Club installed 68 solar panels at their facility with a $12,000 Federal Government grant to help reduce the more than $35,000 spent annually on electricity bills.<\/p>\n
General manager Brock Rogers said the savings would be redirected into a range of membership programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a significant decrease in the amount of energy that were using each day. We\u2019re looking forward to getting that first power bill and seeing it firsthand, but just from the data we\u2019re receiving we understand there\u2019ll be significant savings for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money that we\u2019ve saved on our electricity bills, we\u2019re going to put back into our amazing golf club here, whether that\u2019s putting it toward other initiatives like the junior development programs or inclusion programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The funding was allocated from the Federal Government\u2019s Powering Communities Program, which aims to help groups become more energy efficient.<\/p>\n
Federal Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters said the club was a top pick to receive the money, but more needed to be done to continue the support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s frustrating is that these grants were a bit of a once off, they\u2019re not ongoing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve got to do at a Federal level is\u2026 have these grants rolling so that people can keep applying for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a huge list of people wanting to tap into these resources. It\u2019s one of the only ways community-based sporting clubs\u2026 can access a bit of support to help them become more energy efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A PROJECTED drop in electricity costs for one local golf club after switching to solar power is helping them expand their membership to more female and junior players. The Bendigo Golf Club installed 68 solar panels at their facility with a $12,000 Federal Government grant to help reduce the more than $35,000 spent annually on […]<\/p>\n