Page 1441 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 24 March 2010
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But equally, the government recognises that maintaining equity and recognising the impact that any increase in electricity prices can have on low and vulnerable income earners is a cause for continued policy action. This is recognised in our draft sustainable energy policy, where maintaining equity is a key component and a key driver of the policy. The draft policy recognises that external factors such as upgrades to existing electrical infrastructure, both in the ACT and in the national electricity market, measures such as the proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme and the renewable energy target will all increasingly shift energy generation from fossil-based fuels to renewables, and, with that, the price of energy in the short to medium term will rise.
Therefore, minimisation of these cost pressures is a crucial consideration in the development of the ACT’s sustainable energy policy, especially through measures that assist the community in reducing energy consumption and people’s energy bills. The draft policy outlines what the government is proposing to do, and the motion today from Mr Rattenbury repeats many of those initiatives.
The ACT government is already committed to a review of energy concessions, a review of the indexation rate, the development of energy efficiency programs for all households and indeed the expansion of them—and I discussed some of those during question time today—and targeted programs for low income households. The draft energy policy covers these issues, and it is comprehensive in doing so.
The government already offers a wide range of concession payments to support equity of access to essential services for low income and other disadvantaged ACT households. Payments relating to the supply of essential utility services, including electricity but also gas, water and waste water, make up a significant element of this program. My colleague Minister Burch will elaborate more fully on the range of concessional support the government provides to low income households, but it is important to say that the government takes its commitment to maintaining equity seriously.
Currently, approximately 19 per cent of all ACT households are in receipt of some form of utility cost support from the government. The government recognises that the utility support schemes need to keep pace with changes in utility costs, and detailed work is currently underway and in play in terms of the consideration of the development of the forthcoming budget to ensure that it maintains and keeps pace with changes in electricity costs.
The government is currently undertaking a review of the energy concession as a result of the introduction of a range of measures in the renewable energy sphere. While outcomes such as the CPRS are still not certain, the review is continuing and the government will be making an announcement on the value and mechanisms for review and adjustment of the energy concessions later this year.
But financial assistance can only go so far. Concessions are part of the answer but it is true to say that the cheapest unit of energy is the one you do not need to buy, the one you do not need to purchase at all. Using energy more efficiently reduces energy use, reduces the cost to consumers and ultimately reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
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