00:01In the tiny town of Narrabri, a renewable energy project turned sour.
00:07We're just so disappointed that our councillors have let us down big time.
00:11Seeking to take advantage of its ample rooftop solar,
00:15council joined forces with a local not-for-profit.
00:18The idea is that it's a way to share that storage of excess solar.
00:23Who bid on and won a federal government grant for a community battery.
00:27All of the profits from the battery were to go back into a community fund.
00:32But when the time came to install it in this car park, the project unravelled.
00:38I started having a lot of doubts about the location of the battery.
00:43A presentation was made to council about the dangers of poorly made batteries.
00:48They were considering all batteries are the same
00:50and emphasising the negative of the e-scooter, e-bike type fires
00:56rather than looking at what is a monitored battery system.
01:01Concerns that posed a safety threat spread over Facebook.
01:05These huge batteries with poisonous chemicals can catch fire.
01:09We've all seen it happen.
01:11The council and Sally Hunter better stop it or there will be mums marching in the street.
01:16I'm angry.
01:17At the centre of this was some advice given by the local emergency services.
01:22But just how they came to some of their conclusions about the battery isn't clear.
01:27And we can't get any of them to speak on camera.
01:29Divisions over renewable energy projects in regional Australia are common.
01:34When that outrage is linked to the feeling of risk and hazard,
01:41and that's disproportionate to what the actual hazard is,
01:45it causes a lot of fear.
01:48Another speed bump on the road to net zero.
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