Brownfield Conversions

The cost of electricity is a concern for every Australian. We all consume electricity and costs are rising in every state. In a recent post, we provided an overview of the electricity market and highlighted some ways in which Owners Corporations and Body Corporates could work to minimise the impact of price increases, particularly on common area electricity.

What if there was a way you could control the cost of electricity supply to your building, not only common areas, but to the entire building and make an income for your Owners Corporation or Body Corporate into the bargain. Would that interest you?

What if you could do this at zero cost. Would that interest you more?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, you should consider upgrading your building to an electrical embedded network.

Converting an existing (or Brownfield) building to an electrical embedded network can be relatively straight forward. Simplistically, all that’s required is the installation of the single point of connection to the electricity supply, the Gate or Parent Meter and the replacement of the current electricity meters with upgraded ones.

To upgrade your building to an electrical embedded network will require your Owners Corporation / Body Corporate or Strata to pass a Special Resolution at a General or Special General Meeting. The rules for special resolutions vary from state to state and your manager will be best placed to advise you on this process.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, the length of time it takes to get a special resolution passed can vary from building to building, but the process to get to that point and to convert the building afterwards is straightforward and our experienced team will do all the leg work, calling on your Manager for occasional assistance. We know that your time is precious and spending too much of it managing something like this is not something you want to do.

So how do we go about it?

The first step is to evaluate your buildings potential to become a viable electrical embedded network. To be viable, the building must be of a sufficient size and electricity consumption to enable the purchase of the total building supply at a single point, and generate a wholesale rate for doing so. It then needs to be able to provide competitive retail pricing to your occupiers and your common areas and in doing so generate enough margin to pay the Embedded Network Operator (ENO) fees and provide enough left over to contribute to the costs of running the building.

So, how does it work?