Page 2971 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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reducing carbon emissions. Instead, it delivers a net economic benefit to the ACT economy. From 2013 until 2018, that benefit was equal to $191 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions abated. The lowest cost energy savings options have already been delivered across the territory, but savings are still expected to be more than $50 per tonne between 2021 and 2030. Climate change solutions do not come much cheaper than this.
The bill will also fulfil the energy efficiency promise of delivering jobs and economic growth, since the scheme has been developing the local employment market for energy efficiency initiatives. The ACT government has delivered 93 training sessions to over 550 installers since 2013, and most have gone on to deliver energy efficient upgrades in houses and businesses.
The review also showed that the EEIS has delivered genuine savings that are additional to improvements that would have been made if the scheme were not in place. Surveys conducted annually with participants in the scheme show that 61 per cent were either unlikely or very unlikely to have undertaken the energy saving activities without the scheme, while 63 per cent of participants agree or strongly agree that EEIS products are helping to reduce energy consumption and bills, and 87 per cent of participating businesses are satisfied or very satisfied with their lighting upgrade. These results evidence a very high level of satisfaction with the types of services that will be offered through this bill and through the continuation of the scheme.
This bill will achieve the central recommendation from the EEIS review, which was that the scheme should be continued. It is also implementing the review recommendation of replacing the current greenhouse gas emissions metric so that scheme results are instead measured by the energy savings they achieve. This will work better than the current carbon metric, in view of the government’s 100 per cent renewable electricity target, which will be achieved in 2020.
The 10-year extension will ensure that the ACT balances economic, social equity and environmental outcomes while delivering strong economy-wide benefits. These benefits are estimated to deliver $15.4 million in net present value to the ACT economy.
One of the main benefits of the bill is its contribution towards increasing opportunities for low income households to reduce energy use and costs by way of the scheme’s priority household target. The ACT’s low income households are most affected by energy price rises because they pay the highest proportion of their income on energy but are the least able to make improvements and invest in efficient items.
One of my roles as Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability is to review the scheme’s impact on low income households and to set the priority household target. This target prevents an unacceptable risk of leaving the most vulnerable group fully exposed to increasing energy prices. I am pleased to inform the Assembly that I have increased the priority household target from the current 20 per cent to 30 per cent for 2020. The level of the priority household target will be subject to ongoing review over the life of the scheme extension. This increase has been underpinned by the
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