The CEC has launched a continuous professional development program to help household solar power system installers and designers stay up to date with new developments in the industry. [ + ]

Homeowners in Western Australia will soon pay $350 more to have power connected as a result of a bureaucratic new connection scheme, Master Electricians Australia has warned. [ + ]

Dexus Property Group and Buildcorp have been recognised in the City of Sydney’s CitySwitch Green Office Awards for incorporating measures such as solar panels, improved computer management and lighting into their offices. [ + ]

The AEMC’s review, The Power of Choice, will spark energy reform to help households better manage their bills over the long term, the Clean Energy Council has said. [ + ]

The Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, and Federal Member for Maribyrnong, Bill Shorten, have announced the opening of the new Local Government Energy Efficiency Program to help local councils install solar or heat pump hot water systems in community facilities. [ + ]

Following the announcement of the Kickstart initiative, MRAEL Group says it has been inundated with enquiries from the construction sector wanting to take advantage of the incentive. [ + ]

Broken Hill, in the far west of New South Wales, has been selected as the location for an NBN satellite ground station that will play a crucial role in providing Australians in isolated areas with access to fast broadband. [ + ]

AGL head Michael Fraser has returned to the position of Chair of the Clean Energy Council following its AGM. CEO of Hydro Tasmania Roy Adair was returned as Deputy Chair. [ + ]

Siemens Ltd, the turn-key supplier of TrustPower’s Snowtown II wind project, is working with newly established Australian wind tower supplier E&A Contractors, a wholly owned subsidiary of E&A Limited, to procure a portion of the 90 wind towers for the newly commenced wind farm development. [ + ]

Bulk cable-cutting facility Cablemakers North Queensland is helping locals solve their cable requirements quicker with the launch of the Cablemakers website. [ + ]

A project that will deliver the world’s fastest high-performance wireless broadband to rural areas was awarded the Engineering Innovation Award at the 2012 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards. [ + ]

The Group Training Association of Victoria has launched the Safety First website to help small-to-medium employers get to grips with the new WHS harmonisation laws. [ + ]

The Australian Coal and Energy Survey reveals that shiftwork patterns in the mining and energy sectors could be impacting negatively on workers’ physical and mental health. [ + ]

NECA is calling on the Victorian Government to protect electrical and communications contractors caught up in the alarming number of insolvencies that have been occurring in the state’s construction industry recently. [ + ]

The sustainable data centre market will see accelerated growth in 2013 as it becomes more focused on cost savings and provides more efficient internal IT delivery methods such as virtualisation, software-defined networks (SDNs) and the use of converged infrastructure solutions (so-called cloud-in-a-box), says global analyst firm Ovum. [ + ]