Can we move our building’s existing network to Active?
Usually, yes, though it depends on the current contract. We start by reading it, then model what the building and its residents should be paying and what exiting the existing agreement would cost. If the numbers stack up, we manage the changeover. If they do not, we will tell you that rather than start a process that goes nowhere.
How does a Local Energy Network lower energy costs?
The building buys as one large customer, so its rate is negotiated at a scale no single lot could reach, and common property stops being billed at small customer rates. How that value comes back is set by the financial model agreed for the building: lower energy rates, a financial return to the owners corporation, funded infrastructure upgrades, or a combination.
Is a community energy network the same as a Local Energy Network?
Yes. Local Energy Network, embedded network, private network and community energy network all describe the same arrangement: one grid connection for the site and a private network behind it. Local Energy Network is simply the name Active uses for ours.
Is a Local Energy Network the same as a building energy management system?
No, and the two do different jobs. A building energy management system controls plant inside the building, such as air conditioning, ventilation and lighting. A Local Energy Network manages how electricity comes into the building, how it is metered and how every lot and common area is billed. A building can have both, and the meter data from the network gives a clear view of where the building’s energy goes.
What is a Local Energy Network?
It is Active’s name for an embedded electricity network. A single site, such as an apartment building, retirement village or shopping centre, takes one connection from the grid and runs a private network inside it. That network meters and supplies each apartment, tenancy and common area, and the operator reads the meters and produces the bills.
Where do solar, batteries and EV charging fit?
A Local Energy Network is what makes them work at building scale. Because the site is treated as one customer, rooftop solar, battery storage and EV charging can be sized for the whole building and shared across it, instead of being fitted apartment by apartment. We plan them with the network, or add them at changeover.