Power bills for thousands of families and businesses across New South Wales will fall thanks to the $72 million in energy efficiency measures announced by Premier Gladys Berejiklian today. The investment is expected to ease the cost of living pressures and enable households and businesses to use new technology to reduce energy costs.
The package includes $24.5 million for upgrades to more than 20,000 rental homes to enable low-income renters to benefit from energy efficient lighting, heating, and hot water systems. These upgrades will help renters save up to $400 a year on their energy bills.
$35 million has also been allocated to help businesses stay competitive by reducing their energy costs. This includes assistance for around 250 manufacturing businesses to install energy efficient equipment, such as upgraded boilers, refrigeration and metering technology to help track their energy use. These equipment upgrades will help manufacturers save on average $80,000 a year on their energy bills. Additionally, around 1300 businesses will be provided with world-leading energy advice and training.
Minister for Primary Industries, Mr Niall Blair said not only will this benefit individual businesses but also the wider economy as it means business owners will have more money to invest in growing their firms and employing more workers.
“High energy users like NSW’s manufacturing businesses will particularly benefit from these cost savings, which will enable them to invest in measures that better equip them to compete on the global stage.”
$12.5 million will be used to assist local councils to upgrade 60,000 energy-guzzling street lights with LEDs. The Government has forecast that this will lead to around $22 million in energy bill savings by 2035, further enabling councils to free up funding for other local services and infrastructure.
The NSW Government will be fast-tracking the roll-out of solar panels and has set a target for government buildings, such as schools and hospitals, to reach 25,000-megawatt hours of solar energy a year by 2021 and 55,000-megawatt hours a year by 2024.
Minister for Energy Don Harwin said these investments are ‘essential’ to securing more affordable and cleaner energy for communities right across the state.
More information on this announcement can be found here.