When the brutal 2019 bushfires ripped through the secluded NSW south coast towns of Bawley Point and Kioloa, hundreds of residents were cut off from power for 10 days.

But motivated by a desire to “build back better”, they partnered with the government and electricity distributor Endeavour Energy to design the state’s first community microgrid, which consists of a 3MWh community battery and 430 KWh of residential batteries.