It is time for an energy shift in 2025.

Opening our minds to new visions of the future based on ecological and progressive economic thinking is a great opportunity. The energy transition provides us with a wonderful chance to freely express and implement new economic thinking. This will result in better vibes all round: healthier and resilient people, places and planet.

The fluxus campaign at Environment Tasmania is facilitating a community-led movement to reimagine energy policy and projects state-wide. We will be running engaging events, such as ‘New Energy Discos’, co-design workshops to design the future of energy in Tasmania and exploring real-world community energy projects throughout 2025. We are looking forward to collaborating with a diverse array of people in the Tasmanian community, and empowering Tassie voices.

In 2025 we will empower communities to ask for better decision-making, re-imagine energy policy budgets and ‘roll-outs’. fluxus is calling for a strategic redirection of decision-making that reflects governance and policy for public interest.

The state government’s lack of response to the State of the Environment Report 2024 reflects its priorities. We will be reminding the government of the importance of a refreshed way of governing that includes the wellbeing of people, places and planet – which is in fact the Tasmanian Integrity Commissions definition of ‘public interest’.

Tasmanians are close to government decisions on energy. Communities are being directly impacted by the energy transition for better or worse, and we need to maximise the opportunities.

Energy policy, in fact all policy and decision-making, is a fundamental expression of the economic thinking and decision-making of our time. By observing the political decisions being made, the projects being proposed and undertaken we are by default given insight into significant ‘living data’ of the world views and macroeconomic models driving policy and projects.

In 2025 the political and economic thinking will shift from old-fashioned top-down approaches to community empowered, creative and bottom-up co-design of policy. We are going to collaborate for innovation and action. We are optimistic because we all have the freedom to make this happen in our beautiful democratic society. It’s time to flex the muscles of our democracy and get in shape!

We will be saying goodbye to many of the big shiny projects that are being proposed as they grossly highlight outdated economic and political thinking and decision-making.

We are saying goodbye to economics that does not account for limits to growth and planetary boundaries, which perpetuates the cost-of-living crisis.

We will be welcoming in refreshed, creative, evidence-based and experimental decision making that implements fair energy solutions such as solar on all rental properties and commission housing, locally owned solar farms, community-owned batteries and much more.

Renewable energy is an opportunity to shift economic decision making and planning, however we need to be making decisions from a scientific form of economics and politics that is for people, places and planet.

2025 is a year to create strong action to change the course from a planet-destroying and disconnected way of living to one which is regenerative and connected. The 2025 energy shift will have significant implications for improving societal wellbeing. By designing our society within planetary boundaries, will lead to smaller scale design of infrastructure and services, leading to greater resilience, diversity and local economic and community benefit.

Energy production should be as local as possible, including supply-chains of energy infrastructure. Small-scale solar farms, community batteries, household energy efficiencies and shortening supply chains of goods and services can have significant flow-on effects and be part of the policy and economic innovation required.

The Tasmanian Government can shift their vibe in 2025 by rethinking their economic decisions. For instance, they can adopt the planetary boundaries framework and ecological economics to enable them to deliver policy in public interest and this way everyone will win.


Dr Emily Samuels-Ballantyne is Energy and Climate Campaigner at Environment Tasmania.