Axon Energy Partnership

23 Feb 2023 | Axon Energy, Projects, Solar for businesses

Axon Energy Partnership

Become a member to support this project.

Find out how by visiting our Co-op members page and apply to become a member of the Pingala Co-op.

The Basics

The partnership

The Pingala Co-op and Axon Energy have entered into an agreement that both how will allow for more community solar installations to be installed more quickly and with less administration. 

To do this, the Pingala Co-op has pre-approved a loan facility to Axon Energy for $120,000 that Axon can draw down on any time they have a new project ready to be installed. 

In order to draw down on this amount they need to provide the Pingala Co-op with key design and approval documentation that shows what and where the installation is and that Axon has all the necessary permissions to complete the installation. 

Axon Energy is encouraged to do a minimum amount of installations each quarter in return for a discount on the interest rate on the loan. 

The combination of more projects and an easier approval process will mean that together Pingala Co-op and Axon Energy hope to have over $150,000 worth of new installations by the end of 2023.

Who is Axon Energy

Axon Energy is a new company started by Dr Alexander Slade (LinkedIn) and Rommel Macaraeg (LinkedIn). Their goal is to lead the local economy’s transition toward 100% clean energy. Starting with rented properties, they want to open the market for businesses that have previously been locked out of solar. Almost no small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who are renting can justify an outright purchase of a solar system. Success of their model would accelerate the adoption of high-quality solar technologies on commercial buildings, help grow the solar industry, improve its reputation, create more local jobs and increase community engagement by supporting many local entrepreneurs in Western Sydney and beyond.

Axon Energy offers a no upfront cost power purchase agreement (PPAs) with businesses for the energy that is produced by the electricity generate by solar panels in the roof of the premises that Axon Energy

Benefits to Co-op Members

New and existing members can expect to have all the rights and responsibilities laid out in the Pingala Co-op’s Disclosure Statement.

The partnership will allow members to grow their involvement in the Pingala Co-op and purchase more shares to support more projects. We look forward to seeing new members join our organisation as well as having existing members become a bigger part of our work. 

Pingala Co-op members are brought together in their shared interest in seeing more solar on roofs and having a direct stake in Australia’s energy system. We encourage members to be energy citizens and become more aware of what is happening in different parts of the electricity network. 

Shareholders vote on Co-op business, can nominate as directors and are encouraged to contribute to the strategies of the Pingala Co-op. 

Pingala Co-op issues a collective dividend which is the same for all shareholders, typically this is around 5% and is calculated annually at the end of the financial year.

Benefits to Pingala Co-op

The Pingala Co-op benefits from this agreement in 2 ways; a pipeline of projects that will see more solar on more roofs, and an opportunity for medium term growth to extend our reach and capacity. 

A pipeline of projects

  • Axon Energy is incentivized to bring new projects to the Pingala Co-op. 
  • Axon Energy’s business model means that many of these systems will go on business that may not otherwise have installed solar. 
  • The Pingala Co-op know how many projects it will be doing and when.
  • Members will have more options to get involved with different projects. 

Opportunity for growth

  • The partnership is designed to grow projects by $150,000 in the first year. 
  • The Pingala Co-op is now able to open up membership applications to more people and grow its membership base.
  • Axon Energy will focus on the business development and maintenance of the solar systems leaving the Pingala Co-op the opportunity to focus on membership and community engagement.

What next?

We have already completed independent projects together with Axon Energy ahead of the partnership and we are working together as we speak on several more.

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FAQs

Who is Pingala?
Pingala is a community energy group, working to build a fairer energy system. We believe our old energy system is broken and unfair. By putting consumers and communities in control, we are making “fairer energy” and cutting big energy out of our lives. Pingala is a partnership between two organisations; the Pingala Association and the Pingala Co-operative. The Pingala Association is the heart of the Pingala Group, being the not-for-profit, volunteer organisation that runs initiatives to deliver on our vision for making sure the energy transition is happening fast and fair. The Association’s initiatives work across three broad areas: helping businesses get access to the benefits of clean energy, helping more homes own solar, and working with community organisations and whole communities to ensure they’re not being left behind in the energy revolution. The Pingala Co-operative is a distributing (for profit) co-operative, setup to be the investment vehicle for Pingala’s community investment projects. Pingala Co-operative manages a portfolio of clean energy investments for the benefit of its member-shareholders and has been operating for the last two years. The Co-operative is governed by a Board of Directors with fiduciary responsibility for managing the Co-operative for the benefit of member-shareholders.
What is a Co-operative?
Co-operatives are people centred organisations that are owned, controlled and used by their members. A co-operative’s main purpose is to benefit its members. Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Their members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.   The aim of the Pingala Co-operative is to build, own and operate community-owned solar farms in Australia, with the support of member-shareholders who will become part owners in the projects.
What does it mean to become a member?
This is an opportunity to fund the projects of the Pingala Co-operative by becoming a member and purchasing shares. The shares sold will raise funds to support the installation of new solar on small and medium business around NSW and potentially Australia. Specifically, this means the Pingala Co-operative will providing a loan facility for Axon Energy to draw upon to fund projects as they come up. Any prospective members should read the Rules of the Pingala Co-operative Limited and the Pingala Disclosure Statement set out the conditions of membership, share issues and the overall investment proposition.
How many shares can I buy?
We are offering ‘packets’ of shares in bundles of 250. Since shares are $1 each this means each ‘packet’ of shares you can buy is $250. Each investor can purchase a maximum of 4 packets.  Therefore you have the potential to invest $250, or $500, or $750 or $1,000.
Can I purchase more than $1,000 of shares? Can I purchase less than $250 of shares?
We have balanced our intention to let as many people as possible invest in the project, against the cost of administering the share register. If you would like to invest more than $1,000 you may contact us and make a request for the Board to review. Please write to treasurer@pingala.org.au

Unfortunately, we can’t offer smaller investment sizes than $250 as it becomes too expensive to administer our share register when we have too many small shareholders.

What is the rate of return on my investment? When are dividends paid and how often?
The Co-operative aims to provide a return of between 5% and 8%. Dividends will be calculated and paid annually to each investor.
What happens after the 10 year project life is over?
You will be investing in the Pingala Co-operative, not the partnership, so your shares won’t expire at the 10 year life time. The terms of the agreement means Axon Energy will return the investment capital (along with interest) to Pingala Co-operative over the 10 year project period; Pingala Co-operative will reinvest this capital into other equivalent projects, maximising the impact of your share contribution and allowing you to continue enjoying a return on investment beyond the 10 year project. 
What if I need to access my capital? Can I sell my shares? How soon can I sell them?
You can sell your shares anytime you want to.  However, you will either need to find another member to buy your shares or you will need to apply to the Co-operative to purchase your shares back from you.  These two options are expanded below:

  1. Finding another member to buy your shares. This is the preferred method of selling your shares. You can either find a buyer yourself or you can use the Pingala Shares for Sale register.  People who are interested in purchasing shares can view the register and request Pingala to put them in touch with the prospective seller.
  2. Pingala repurchase of shares. This is recommended for situations where a buyer cannot be found and there are urgent reasons for selling shares. You can apply to the Co-operative to repurchase your shares and in most circumstances this will be possible.  The Co-operative is not obliged to repurchase shares if it will be detrimental to the Co-operative.
Can I complete a joint application?
No, share applications are for individuals only.

You may register a trust or company as a member, but only one member of the trust or company can have voting rights in the Co-op. 

How do I pay for the shares?
Once your application has been proccessed and approved. You will then need to send an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to the provided bank details for the Pingala Co-operative.

For this you will receive a membership invoice with payment details. You may pay by card or EFT. If paying by bank transfer, you must add your full name in the description field of the transfer.

Will I be able to contact someone if I have a question about my shares?
As a shareholder you will be a member of the Pingala Co-operative and therefore a part-owner in the project. Contact treasurer@pingala.org.au if you have any questions.
Will the dividends be franked?
Pingala claims a tax deduction for the distribution it makes to its members, so long as it doesn’t frank those dividends. The Board of Pingala Co-operative have resolved to take advantage of this situation and so dividends will not be franked unless the Board determines to change this approach.

Essential documents

Rules – our constitution

Co-operatives have a constitution just like companies do, but they’re called Rules. The Rules set out the ways in which the Co-operative operates, the obligations of members, the purpose of the organisation and the way in which meetings are run and so forth.

Disclosure Statement – a bit like a prospectus

Pingala Co-operative is a for-profit entity. Technically this is what is known as a distributing co-operative. That’s just a fancy way of saying we distribute surplus/profit to our shareholders. So, we’re a for-profit Co-op.

Just like a company needing to issue a prospectus if they make a public offer to investors, our Co-operative must always have an up-to-date Disclosure Statement that outlines the financial involvement and liability of member-investors as well as the overall prospects of the organisation into the future.

This is your main document to determine what sort of investment you’ll be making if you were to become a member and buy shares. The document includes a section on risk, which you should pay particular attention to (although all parts of the document need your attention, so don’t just read the risk section!)

You can find the Rules and Disclosure Statement on our Co-op Members page.

Pingala

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