NSW to extend Energy Savings Scheme to 2050

The NSW Government has revealed plans to extend the NSW Energy Savings Scheme until 2050.

The expanded scheme will be rebadged to become part of the state’s Energy Security Safeguard, and will seek to allow consumers to save an average of $40 per year on their energy bills.

The expanded program now also has a more ambitious target of decreasing energy consumption by up to 13% by 2030.

According to the Energy Savings Industry Association (ESIA), the NSW ESS is already delivering an average annual reduction in total energy consumption of at least 4%.

The additional reduction targets will seek to reduce pressure during summer peak demand times from 6 to 9 pm, and will involve initiatives such as adopting technologies like batteries that can reduce peak period demand.

“We welcome this practical policy announcement, which is a sensible leveraging of the highly successful ESS and addresses the critical issue of peak demand impacts on energy reliability, affordability and security,” ESIA President Rod Woolley said.

“With the lack of a coherent national energy and climate policy, it is crucial that the states step up. The NSW Government has provided a strong signal to the market to invest and deliver energy‐saving solutions sooner and provides long‐term certainty for our transformational industry.”

Woolley said NSW is the first state to have introduced a demand reduction scheme. South Australia and the ACT both have peak demand reduction on their review agendas for 2019–20, but Victoria is yet to show a clear intention to adopt such a scheme.

“Energy-savings scheme end dates now run at 2050 for NSW, 2030 for Victoria and ACT, and SA considering 2025,” he said.

“That leaves Queensland with one foot in the COAG Energy Council (EC) leadership huddle, with that state committing to launching an energy-savings scheme before the next election on 31 October 2020, but no word yet as peak demand there continues to rise. We encourage the state COAG EC members to all get into the huddle on this challenge.”

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