A Narrabri community battery had strong local support and was fully funded – then, it stalled. Why?

False claims began circulating, including wild exaggerations about potential risks. So, is this case just a local issue or is it part of something bigger?

It turns out this is a systemic problem – and misinformation about renewable energy is causing real harm to rural and regional communities. That’s what the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy concluded in its final report.

The committee heard from a variety of academics, organisations, experts and people living in regional areas. It received 247 submissions, hosted 11 public hearings, and heard case studies from around the world.

It found that communities nationwide are experiencing a coordinated onslaught of anti-renewables messaging, that’s actively working to mislead Australians.

The inquiry’s Chair, Senator Peter Whish Wilson, said, "Deliberate and deceptive campaigns that undermine information integrity on climate change and energy – or manipulate public discourse to obstruct policy – have stalled climate action, including the rollout of renewable energy in Australia.”

This disinformation – false information spread that is designed to mislead – is also mixed in with misinformation. Misinformation is false information that is spread accidentally, and often it can stem from genuine concerns about renewable energy.

So, what’s the impact of this misinformation and disinformation in communities? Of course, it slows down our renewable energy roll-out and climate action. But critically, it also makes it harder to talk about legitimate issues communities are experiencing, and about how communities can harness the best outcomes from this energy shift.

How did RE-Alliance contribute to the inquiry?

In September last year, we made a joint submission to the inquiry with the Community Power Agency and Yes 2 Renewables. In it, we illustrate how misinformation and disinformation has affected the communities we work with, and we highlight actions that governments and others can take to address this issue.

Then in November, we appeared as a witness to the inquiry's public hearing, alongside farmers Sally Hunter from Narrabri, NSW and Lindsay Marriott from South Gippsland, VIC. 

The final report highlights several of the issues and solutions raised by our National Director Andrew Bray, as well as both Sally and Lindsay.

“When there's an information void, we just see it filled time and time again by false and exaggerated claims,” said Bray.

“It's about creating the climate of fear and confusion that the people who spread the misinformation are trying to create. That has a real impact on community cohesion.”

How are people in the regions experiencing misinformation about renewables?

In her appearance at the inquiry's public hearing, Narrabri farmer Sally Hunter explained how the spread of false information derailed a community battery project, despite initial strong community support. Midway through negotiations, the local council made claims including wild exaggerations about fire risks and outages. Local Facebook pages became “the castle of propagated misinformation,” and a fake account was used “deliberately to deceive people.”

Lindsay Marriott, South Gippsland farmer, told the Committee how “every component of my life was attacked” after he decided to host 12 wind turbines as part of the Bald Hills Wind Farm. He was told that wind farm workers would need to “hoover up all the dead birds” every day, that the turbines would lower the district’s property values and would reduce the productivity of his farm. None of it was true.

Georgia Stewart, the 18-year-old daughter of a Western Victoria farmer, was harassed by a man at the local pub because her father was considering hosting a wind farm. He accused her father of pushing others to support wind farms and transmission towers. Georgia’s father Brett told the Committee that there was a lot of miscommunication and some people are “ not willing to listen”.

These are clearly damaging experiences for these locals and their communities. But the damage extends more broadly too: with all this airtime given to misinformation, where is the room to discuss legitimate issues or opportunities?

What are the solutions to help us get accurate information?

“It's important that the government step in and support the work that's happening at the local community level to get accurate information out. That will help communities to focus their discussions on how to ensure the shift to renewable energy delivers locally,” says Bray.

In the report, the inquiry committee makes 21 recommendations that the federal government should act on.

The recommendations don’t use the term “Local Energy Hubs”, but Recommendation 21 is a big step in that direction. The committee “recommends the Australian Government resource community-led engagement driven by organisations with proven track records in local communities.” This is critical for improving access to information in renewable energy regions, and something we’ve been calling for for a number of years.

Other actions that we’ve been calling for also formed part of the inquiry’s recommendations. These recommendations included that the Australian Government should:

• Continue to provide funding support for regional and independent media outlets (Recommendation 5)
• Task the CSIRO with providing information to communities on the costs and benefits of renewable energy creation, storage and transmission (Recommendation 18)
• Ensure the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner is adequately funded for community engagement (Recommendation 15)
• Strengthen capacity for government agencies and departments to deliver improved engagement and communications (Recommendation 20)

Rural and regional communities deserve to have accurate information on renewable energy and climate. Adopting and funding the inquiry’s recommendations would go some way to achieving this, so we’ll be watching closely to see how the Federal Government responds.