The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has been asked to expand a pilot program that subsidises home electrification measures like solar panel installation. Photo: Mondiaux Solar.
A long-running project to fully electrify between 500 and 1000 Canberra homes is set for a multi-million-dollar boost from the Federal Government.
Advocacy group Electrify Canberra has long dreamed of creating what it dubs ‘Suburb Zero’, where all homes are equipped with solar panels and battery packs, making gas-powered cookers and water systems a thing of the past.
Owners would be able to apply for subsidies or concessional loans to install all these things, and maybe even acquire leases for EVs, whether they be cars, bikes, scooters or motorbikes.
But until now, the group hasn’t “had any funding to actually move forward”, according to coordinator Amy Blain.
“We know that there is community enthusiasm, it’s just the funding that always been the issue,” she said.
Not anymore.
Independent ACT senator David Pocock, along with senators David Van, Jacqui Lambie and Lidia Thorpe, has pressured Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen to use his “statutory ministerial referral powers” to fund a series of “electrification accelerator” projects across the country through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), including here in Canberra.
David Pocock at an Electrify Canberra ‘Cooking Without Gas’ event. Photo: Electrify Canberra, Facebook.
Over the past six years, ARENA has invested more than $144 million across 49 projects to help homes reduce energy bills through “electrification and other energy-smart improvements”.
Most recently, the agency allocated another $5.4 million for ‘Electrify 2515’. Under this program, 500 homes in Illawarra’s 2515 postcode would receive more efficient electric appliances (including heat pumps and water heaters), home batteries, and rooftop solar—all connected to a ‘home energy management system’ (which basically allows a resident to turn appliances on or off or set up running times via a smartphone app or website).
This week, Mr Bowen said he wanted to take the initiative further and fund more projects across the ACT, Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania.
Electrify Canberra volunteer Sarah alongside Chris Bowen. Photo: Electrify Canberra, Facebook.
“It is important that suburb-wide or community electrification demonstration projects are trialled in every state and territory in Australia to feed vital information and data back to ARENA, energy and electricity network companies, and governments about how best to roll out household electrification around the country,” a statement from his office read.
Under the arrangement, the minister can request ARENA fund particular projects, but the department maintains final approval rests with the ARENA board and is “based upon merit, consistent with their establishment legislation”.
In a statement, David Pocock’s office said it “paves the way for potentially thousands of households, including people who are renting and in lower socio-economic areas to benefit from a transition to fully electric homes that may have otherwise been out of reach”.
“In this cost-of-living crisis, one of the highest-impact, non-inflationary things governments can do is to help households electrify and deliver thousands in permanent power bill relief,” Senator Pocock said.
It has yet to be revealed how much funding Canberra’s project will receive or whether it will target one suburb (or group of suburbs) or a group of similar residences.
“Whether it’s apartments – because we know the complexity of removing gas heating and transitioning people in apartments is a key sticking point for a lot of people at the moment, so it might make sense to focus on that – or it might be on low-income households, or an area with mixed dwellings,” Ms Blain said.
“It will also be looking at the other accelerators happening across the different states and territories, and where makes the most sense, because ultimately, ARENA will be funding the programs they need to test it where they need.”
Amy Blain also heads up the Ainslie Buy Nothing Group. Photo: James Coleman.
Electrify Canberra has been conducting an online community survey to gather data on places where there might be an appetite for such a project.
“We’ve got overwhelming support from the majority of responses of people who are just really keen on it,” she said.
“We’ve got responses from lots of the suburbs across Canberra, and cost is constantly being raised as the major barrier to transitioning, which isn’t massively surprising.”
Canberra homeowners interested in participating in the pilot project are invited to complete the community survey at Electrify Canberra.
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