EAGA Update – August 2023

AusNet has approved EAGA’s proposal to fund an electrification pilot for vulnerable households.

The pilot seeks to better understand the impact of electrification on households, both from a network perspective and a vulnerable customer perspective. The energy provider will allocate $1.5M to the initiative over the next couple of years.

The aim is to quantify the network and non-network costs and benefits of electrification to inform the development of new business models, subsidies and targeted interventions to ensure vulnerable households are not left behind.

Specifically, the pilot will deliver comprehensive electrification upgrades to a select number of households through the replacement of gas appliances with electric alternatives, along with home heating and cooling upgrades. Under the initiative, both network and cost of living data will be collected for these households pre- and post-electrification.

AusNet will partner with councils to facilitate engagement with households and leverage existing on-ground programs and campaigns focusing on electrification, such as Solar Savers. The pilot will also explore the potential to leverage other subsidies and rebates available through Local Governments, Solar Victoria and Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) programs.

In June, the seven businesses participating in the pilot of the Business Renewables Buying Group (BRBG) signed contracts for 100% Renewable Energy for the next five years.

EAGA supported the delivery of the BRBG pilot over the last 18 months, which was led by the City of Yarra on behalf of the consortium of participating councils and Alliances.

In total, the businesses will contract over 20GWh of power, saving more than 16,000 tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent of shifting about 4000 Victorian homes to 100% Green Power. Based on the success of the pilot, 32 councils across the state (including three EAGA members) have collectively pooled their resources to replicate and expand the project over the next two years.

EAGA’s Energy Savers program has successfully assisted 26 businesses across the region to receive over $0.5M in federal funding to undertake energy efficiency upgrades.

There were 180 recipients in round 1, so businesses in EAGA’s region represent 21% of the recipients.

This caps of a successful year for Energy Savers. In the financial year 2022/23, the Energy Savers team engaged a total of 1218 businesses across the EAGA region. Energy Savers led to the creation of 307,225 Victorian energy efficiency certificates (VEECs).  A certificate is created when an energy efficiency activity is undertaken that represents one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions reduction (CO2-e). Lighting upgrades made up the majority of Energy Savers’ activities.