2023-06-25
The 2023-24 Territory Budget is making significant investments in the Government’s award-winning Sustainable Household Scheme, in a pioneering Government electrification project, and a range of other projects to help the ACT reach its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.
Sustainable Household Scheme
The funding boost for the Scheme will allow more households to participate and takes the total investment to $280 million dollars.
The next phase of the Scheme provides cost of living support for more households by assisting the upgrading of their heating and cooling to fully electric, installing hot water pumps and electric stove tops, and the purchase of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, battery storage systems, and ceiling insulation.
To free up capacity for the items above, eligibility for solar panels will be restricted to homeowners who most need government support.
Since September 2021, the Scheme has assisted almost 13,000 households with the up-front costs of making their homes more sustainable, allowing Canberrans to improve the comfort of their homes and reduce their energy bills.
The Scheme was the first of its kind to make energy efficiency upgrades affordable and accessible for households and community organisations, and has been an overwhelming success to date, with $100m invested in solar since 2021.
$70m for electric public sector operations
In line with its policy to phase out fossil-fuel gas in the ACT, the Government will lead by example, investing almost $70 million to electrify government owned and operated buildings.
The project will replace gas with electric heating and hot water systems across a range of Government buildings such as our schools, hospitals, emergency services and government offices.
This significant Government commitment is expected to stimulate the commercial upgrades industry in Canberra as the Government electrifies its extensive list of properties.
The first electrification upgrades will occur at the Manuka Pool, Weetangera Primary School and the Gungahlin Joint Emergency Services Centre.
EV charging network, Big Battery, Expanded Home Energy Support Program
Further investment in the Big Canberra Battery project will also help us reach our ambitious emissions reduction goal through large-scale to neighbourhood-scale batteries to help power ACT homes and businesses.
The Budget broadens the cohort of vulnerable households that can receive rebates through the Home Energy Support Program. From 1 July 2023, homeowners who hold a Health Care Card will now be eligible to access the program. Low-income homeowners with a Pensioner Concession Card, a Veterans Gold Card, and now a Health Care Card, can access a 50% rebate up to $2,500 to install rooftop solar, and an additional 50% rebate up to $2,500 to install energy efficient products.
The Budget also provides further investment to expand the public EV charging network to help achieve 180 public EV chargers by 2025 and support the transition to zero emissions vehicles.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Shane Rattenbury:
The ACT Government will lead by example in the electrification of our city by investing around $70 million in replacing ageing gas appliances with efficient electric appliances at government sites including schools, offices, depots and health facilities. This pioneering program will improve efficiency and cut emissions from government operations contributing to our goal of zero emissions from Government operations by 2040. The major project will also see an expansion of the commercial upgrades industry in the Territory.
The Home Energy Support Program assists low-income homeowners to make upgrades that reduce energy bills and make their home more comfortable. Expanding eligibility to include health care card holder is an important change that will make this support available to more Canberrans to ease cost of living pressures – an especially important change when cost of living pressures are stressing many households.
Canberrans embracing the shift to electric vehicles, with now almost 5,000 electric vehicles on our roads. We will continue to support this transition by investing in more public charging stations to make charging more convenient and accessible. This investment builds on the delivery of the initial 50 chargers this year and will help achieve our commitment of 180 chargers by 2025.