Energy as a Service for Community Schemes | Blockpower
Energy as a Service for Community Schemes | Blockpower
Energy as a Service is a fully managed prepaid electricity solution for community schemes. Blockpower pays the scheme’s electricity bill. Residents continue to buy electricity as normal through their prepaid meters, while we manage the entire energy environment behind them — solar, batteries, geyser control, metering and long-term performance. All infrastructure is invested in, insured and maintained by Blockpower.
Unplanned outages, failing municipal infrastructure, and rising electricity costs are already putting community schemes under financial and operational pressure. Levy shortfalls, billing complexity and the burden of managing an electricity environment were never meant to fall on trustees and managing agents.
What EaaS Delivers
We invest in the energy infrastructure we deliver — and stay accountable for it. We own it, insure it, operate it and maintain it for the full service term, so you never carry the financial, technical or insurance burden of the infrastructure.
Energy as a Service is not a solar installation, a battery system or a financing structure. It is a fully managed service model. Blockpower invests in the infrastructure, insures every component and takes complete accountability for how electricity is supplied, recovered and managed within your community scheme.
Infrastructure
investment
Blockpower invests in and owns the energy infrastructure, including solar PV, batteries, meters and related systems
Full
insurance cover
All installed infrastructure is fully insured by Blockpower for the duration of the service
Utility
bill payment
Blockpower pays the scheme’s utility bill as a core part of the solution
Resident
prepaid electricity
Residents buy electricity as normal through their prepaid meters
Operations
& maintenance
Full monitoring, maintenance and support over the service term
Three
benefit options
Resident electricity savings, upfront capital injection, or a monthly income stream for the scheme
No body
corporate burden
No upfront capital, no ownership, no insurance responsibility
Battery
back up
Up to 6 hours of battery back up
How It Works
Blockpower reviews the electricity account, usage profile, prepaid structure, resident demand, common-area loads, technical infrastructure and financial objectives.
We design a fully managed prepaid electricity service, including financial structuring aligned to scheme goals.
Blockpower invests in and installs solar PV, batteries, meters and geyser controllers and takes out full insurance cover on all assets from day one.
Residents continue buying electricity through their prepaid meters as normal. Blockpower pays the electricity bill and manages the full electricity environment.
Blockpower monitors, maintains and manages the full system over the service term.
Benefit Structures
Every community scheme has a different financial reality. Blockpower’s EaaS solution offers various benefit structures to ensure a financially strong and resilient body corporate. We also handle all regulatory compliance.
option 1
Savings on
Electricity
Savings of up to 30% where Nersa approved reseller rates apply.
option 2
Upfront Capital Injection [Most Popular]
Compress your future energy savings into an upfront capital injection for your community scheme. Access capital for maintenance, repairs, upgrades or reserves without raising special levies.
option 3
Fixed Monthly
Income Stream
Predictable income to support levy stability, operational expenses or long-term planning. Used to reduce levies for schemes, this is an excellent option for creating an additional reliable revenue stream for the community scheme.
Why Schemes Need a Different Approach
A community scheme has multiple residents, prepaid meters, common property loads, electricity accounts, governance obligations and long-term maintenance responsibilities. A standard solar installation does not solve these challenges.
Blockpower’s EaaS solution is designed around these real scheme conditions. It’s a simple approach to delivering fully managed, reliable energy, without adding any complexity to the scheme.
EaaS vs PPA
A conventional solar PPA sells solar electricity to the body corporate. Blockpower Energy as a Service manages the full electricity environment. Blockpower invests in, owns and insures every component of the infrastructure it delivers.
“A PPA sells power into the scheme. Energy as a Service manages electricity for the scheme.”
Standard Solar PPA
Blockpower EaaS
Electricity Bill
Scheme still pays the municipality
Blockpower pays the bill for you
Contract Term
Typically 10–25 years, fixed
3-year initial term with buy-out options
Financial Risk
Scheme carries full exposure
Zero financial risk to the scheme
Tariff Escalation
Fixed to CPI or higher
Aligned to municipal rates or lower
Backup Power
Solar only with limited battery capacity
Solar + battery + energy management
Admin & Billing
Remains on the scheme
Fully managed by Blockpower
It’s a fully managed electricity solution for community schemes. Blockpower invests in the infrastructure — solar PV, battery storage, smart prepaid meters and geyser controllers — and takes over responsibility for paying the scheme’s utility bill. Residents continue buying electricity through their prepaid meters as normal, and everything behind the meter (design, funding, operation, maintenance, insurance and monitoring) is handled and carried by Blockpower.
There is no catch. Solar energy is more cost-effective to produce than conventional grid electricity. That cost advantage allows Blockpower to fund, install, own, operate and maintain the system while supplying electricity to residents at a tariff that is equal to or lower than what they already pay. It’s simply a smarter, more efficient way of delivering power.
No. Blockpower funds and installs the entire system — no capital outlay or setup fee for the scheme, and nothing upfront for residents. Residents simply carry on buying electricity the way they do now — buying prepaid credit and paying only for what they use — at a tariff that is the same as, or lower than, what they currently pay.
Every community scheme’s financial reality is different, so we assess yours first — consumption, tariff and cost structure — to establish what’s achievable. From there, the financial benefit takes one of a few forms: up to 30% savings on prepaid electricity costs, an upfront cash injection to the scheme, or a fixed monthly income which can be used to reduce levy pressures. Which are viable, and the figures for each, are set out in your scheme’s term sheet.
Beyond the financial structure, EaaS delivers wider benefits: the scheme becomes more marketable with improved property value, residents get up to 6 hours of battery backup during outages, and the entire system is funded, owned, insured, operated and maintained by Blockpower — with no capital outlay to the scheme and the utility bill paid for.
How much your scheme saves depends on the benefit structure suited to it and its current tariff, so we confirm the figure per scheme. Just as important: where a scheme currently recovers a fixed electricity cost from owners through the levy, that charge typically falls away once Blockpower takes over the full utility bill.
Blockpower does. This is the core of the EaaS solution and the single biggest difference between EaaS and a standard solar PPA, where the scheme still pays the municipality directly. Taking over the bill shifts real risk off the scheme: the cost, the cashflow and the admin of the municipal account — along with the exposure to tariff increases and supply issues — all move to Blockpower. The scheme simplifies its finances and hands both the burden and the risk to the party best placed to carry it.
Blockpower insures all installed infrastructure for the full duration of the service. The body corporate carries no insurance liability for the energy assets. Owners’ existing home and building insurance is unaffected.
EaaS is approved by special resolution under the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act (STSMA) — 75% of members voting at a general meeting, not unanimous consent. Because trustees can’t commit the scheme to an agreement of this nature on their own, it goes to a general meeting, and Blockpower supports the scheme through the full notice and voting process.
The EaaS solution is a hybrid system combining solar, battery storage and grid supply, designed to keep power available when the grid goes down. Schemes typically get three to six hours of battery backup. During the day, solar recharges the batteries and heats geysers; when the battery runs low, residents are notified and remaining capacity is prioritised for common areas such as security, gates and lighting. Exact backup duration depends on the system design and the scheme’s usage at the time.