Electrification and energy efficiency advocates welcomed the allocation of almost $3 billion in the 2023-24 federal budget to help homes and businesses drive down their everyday energy costs and cut their emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.
$1billion was set aside for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to help households afford the shift to gas-free, all electric and solar powered homes.
An additional $300 million of federal money will go towards electric and efficiency upgrades for social and public housing through a like-for-like funding partnership with the states and territories.
The newly allocated $1.3 billion adds to the already announced $310 million Small Business Energy Incentive – a bonus tax incentive for small businesses to upgrade their energy performance.
Taking the total closer to $3 billion is $1.25 billion committed to decarbonising Australian industry through the Powering the Regions Fund, announced alongside reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism last month.
CEFC funding
$1 billion is to be distributed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to support lower cost lending for around 11,000 homes to invest in “battery-ready, solar PV, modern appliances and other improvements.”
The finer details of how the CEFC will distribute the $1 billion, and through which private lending partners, are yet to be nutted out. In the past, the federal government’s green bank has partnered with a broad range of lenders using abroad range of financing products.
This has included working with outfits like Plenti to offer low or zero-interest loans with zero up-front cost, and in this instance could be used to get panels on rooftops and other upgrades including the purchase of efficient electric appliances that can then be paid off using instant savings on energy bills.
Kommentare