Nick Johns-Wickberg
As someone who manages major national events for a living, AIRAH Conference and Events Manager Marie Karekla knows that even the best-laid plans are subject to change.
Major technical faults at venues, deliveries not showing up, speakers cancelling at the last minute … Marie has seen it all. Or at least so she thought.
But one weekend in August, Marie had an experience that surprised even her.
An unexpected upgrade
Before we tell the story of Marie’s Sunday, you should know that she and her husband Nick have recently installed a 10kW solar PV array on their Melbourne house through the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program. The program provides state government rebates for household energy upgrades, with solar energy systems headlining the list of eligible appliances.
Marie says the choice to go solar was a no-brainer, given that she and Nick drive an EV.
“It was such a good decision,” Marie says. “The payback period is three to four years, and we sometimes even make money on our electricity over summer.
“The system allows us to charge our car when the solar energy is strongest, which saves money and optimises electricity use.”
Given the large uptake of the VEU in Melbourne’s west, the state government was keen to make an announcement about the success of the program. To do this, they wanted to get some footage and photos of a house that had been upgraded through the program.
It just so happens that Marie’s house ticked all the boxes. So, when someone from the state government called to ask if they could come and get some footage of the new solar panels in situ, Marie didn’t think twice.
What she didn’t expect was for her living room to become the backdrop for a full press conference with none other than Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
Premier in
Marie got a call the day before to let her know that the photoshoot had been upgraded to a press conference and that the premier and her entourage would be coming at 8am on Sunday. Even with the heads-up, she wasn’t prepared for what was to come.
“I was expecting them to make the announcement out the front of the house,” Marie says. “Instead, we had a bunch of camerapeople and journalists from all the major news outlets crowded into our living room.
“They had to move quite a lot of furniture to make room, including a table that’s too heavy for my husband and me to move. I didn’t mind that, but I told them there was no way they were putting my sofa outside!”
If the inside of the house was chaotic, the outside was even more intense.
“They blocked the whole street off with security for three hours,” Marie says. “It was pretty full-on – definitely more than we were expecting on a Sunday morning!”
An ironic twist
Appearing alongside Allan at the press conference were Minister for Energy and Resources D’Ambrosio, local state MP Sarah Connolly, and Solar Victoria CEO Stan Krpan. The politicians talked about the success of the program, which they say has contributed to 13 per cent of Victoria’s renewable energy capacity and reduced participants’ energy bills by a total of $279 million per year.
In a conversation with D’Ambrosio after the press conference, Marie mentioned that she works at AIRAH.
“Her face lit up and she said ‘I know AIRAH!’”, Marie says. “It’s funny, because the work we do is strongly related to energy efficiency and these household upgrades, and we’ve actually covered quite a lot about the VEU in AIRAH’s publications.”
After a good chat – and three hours of organised chaos at Marie’s place – the crew was off to their next stop, or perhaps simply heading home to enjoy the rest of their Sunday.
Marie says that, while the morning was quite intense, it was a fascinating experience and will make for a pretty cool story to tell in years to come. She says the ministers were lovely to speak to and everyone was incredibly grateful to her and Nick for welcoming such a large entourage into their house on a weekend.
Who knows – perhaps the premier or one of her ministers will repay the favour by speaking at one of AIRAH’s conferences next year …
Leave a Reply