Canberra businesses can now opt to upgrade their light bulbs to LED for free in a territory-wide push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After the program that installed more than one million energy saving items in 75,000 Canberra homes came to an end last year, businesses can now sign up to have their existing lights swapped for more energy efficient LED lights.
The program is part of the ACT government's Energy Efficiency Improvement Scheme, which is funded by the electricity retailers, who will in turn pass on a portion of their costs to their customers.
However ACT climate change minister Shane Rattenbury said it would help save approximately 40,000 tonnes of polluting emissions in 2017.
"Given that lighting makes up about half the total electricity bill for general retail outlets, a quarter of the total bill for hairdressers and 14 per cent for restaurants, the cost savings generated by more efficient energy use can be substantial," he said.
"This initiative will allow businesses reduce their energy consumption, reduce lighting energy bills by up to 60 per cent and improve the quality and lifespan of their light globes."
The government set a target to get emissions 40 per cent below the 1990 level by 2020.
But they are currently 26 per cent higher than 1990, and rising - although a change to the calculations and reported emissions for the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector affected the 1990 base rate and the the 2014-15 inventory.
Mr Rattenbury said emissions would begin to steeply decline from next year as more ACT-funded wind farms began operating.
ActewAGL will be the first energy retailer to offer free upgrades to businesses but more are expected to follow over the next few months.
Businesses can estimate savings using the Actsmart Business Lighting Efficiency Webtool: http://actsmart-lightingwebtool.com.au/
