Partnerships with respected community organisations help TRUenergy to extend its efforts to reduce climate change and protect the local environment.
Fridges are a major energy user in the home, responsible for around 15 percent of total household greenhouse gas emissions. Many low-income households have to rely on old, inefficient fridges resulting in unmanageable electricity bills.
To address this problem, the Phoenix Fridge Program was launched in April 2007. Supported by TRUenergy, the program is an alliance with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Victorian Government.
Recent migrants, trained under the program, take unwanted fridges donated by the public and retrofit them to improve energy efficiency and ultimately reduce running costs. These fridges are then provided at minimum cost to low-income households.
Since the introduction of the program two years ago, it has exceeded its targets with the removal of 6000 inefficient fridges from circulation, abating a total of 12 tonnes of carbon.
In 2008, TRUenergy entered into a $425,000 partnership with Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) a leading, not-for-profit organisation working to protect diverse, environmentally sensitive habitats from the effects of climate change.
To involve staff in the project, TRUenergy introduced a CVA volunteer program. This allows and encourages teams of staff to travel to CVA’s 200 hectare site, The Island near Bacchus Marsh, for a day’s tree planting and project work.
TRUenergy volunteers are working to restore the land to its original indigenous conditions through tree planting, land regeneration and biodiversity projects.
PowerWorks is an educational tourism centre located in the Latrobe Valley that imparts knowledge about energy and Victoria’s electricity generation industry.
TRUenergy is one of three Latrobe Valley generators that supports PowerWorks. Our support enables PowerWorks to employ a full-time Education Officer who travels across the state to take the education program into schools.
In addition to our corporate partnerships, TRUenergy works with a number of organisations that have been carefully chosen on the basis of their reputation, the results they achieve and their relevance to the broader community.
Community groups are welcome to apply for funding under TRUenergy’s Sponsorship and Community Support Program. Applications must include a completed Application form (.PDF file, 1kb).