Page 349 - Week 01 - Thursday, 27 February 2014
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Of course, we also hear from the opposition their disappointment that this is all going to impose extraordinary cost on households. It is the case that we have to be highly cognisant of cost impacts when it comes to our renewable energy policies. But, of course, what critics of the government’s renewable energy policies fail to acknowledge is that there are ons and there are offs. Yes, increasing renewable energy, increasing the supply of renewable energy, particularly in the short term, does see some increase in the price of energy. It is nowhere near the increase you see from the need to augment electricity networks to drive the uptake and demand for a whole range of different appliances, such as air conditioners—it is nowhere near that magnitude of increase—but there is, nevertheless, an increase.
But what critics fail to acknowledge is that there are also offsets like, for example, the energy efficiency improvement scheme, a law enacted by this place in 2012, a law that mandates our electricity suppliers to deliver energy saving devices into people’s homes so that they can reduce their electricity usage, save money on their electricity bills and, of course, use less electricity and therefore generate less greenhouse gas emissions.
That scheme has been in operation now for nearly 12 months. It has reached 18,000 households in that time. Over the three years of the scheme it is going to reach 70,000 Canberra households. That is about half of all of the residential dwellings in the ACT. It is going to abate three-quarters of a million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. But, more importantly, when it comes to the argument around cost, it is going to save households about $4 a week off their electricity bills. What is the cost of switching to 90 per cent renewables? About $4 a week. We can have the assertions from those opposite that renewable energy comes at a price and, yes, it does, but I would argue a very modest and one that is offset by other measures such as energy saving schemes that householders can take advantage of.
As a Labor government, we are very committed to protecting those on the lowest incomes—those on pensions, those on social security benefits, those who have very little room to move when it comes to their expenditure. The government has set up a specific scheme designed to assist those households. It is called the outreach program. The outreach program is designed to assist very low income households to manage their electricity and energy use and save money on their electricity bills. The outreach program is delivered by social and community organisations like St Vincent de Paul, Communities@Work and other charitable groups, people who are in touch at the grassroots with those low income, vulnerable households.
The government funds this program, first of all, to do energy audits on an individual basis in those homes. It can be a rented property, it can be a public housing property or it can be someone who is in their own home but on a very low income, perhaps due to disability or sickness. Once that audit is done the government funds the replacement or upgrade of energy saving measures in the home.
I will never forget a story I was told about this scheme. There was one family, an elderly pensioner couple, who had a very old fridge. The fridge was so old that all the seals had deteriorated around it so it would not seal properly when you closed it. What that meant was that the fridge used a lot of energy just to try and maintain temperature.
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