Electric vehicles, a solar energy auction and increased support for low-income households will guide Canberra towards a carbon-neutral future, according to the Government's new sustainable energy policy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Environment and Sustainable Development Minister Simon Corbell, releasing the policy yesterday, said the 10-year strategy would ensure energy supplies were reliable, affordable and sustainable.
However, the ACT Greens said the long-awaited document was ''half-hearted'' and lacked the direction needed for an ambitious greenhouse gas reduction of 40 per cent by 2020.
Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury said, ''It gives a really good picture of where we are now and where we have been, but there is no real sense of where we are going.
''Over the next 10 to 20 years, we will need to see a significant change in the way the ACT consumes electricity.
''But this policy does not answer questions around where we are we going to source our energy from, how much we will generate, how much will be imported and how much will be renewable.''
He said the majority of measures included in the policy had already been announced.
The policy outlines a series of measures that will manage the social, environmental and economic challenges around energy use in the ACT.
Key aspects of the policy include:
+a new retailer energy efficiency scheme aimed at supporting low-income households.
+establishing a target for the per capita usage of non-renewable electricity.
+supporting the roll-out of electric vehicle support infrastructure; the introduction of electric vehicles into the government fleet in 2012-13.
+assessing the feasibility of distributed energy production in large developments at the Canberra Hospital and the Braddon-Reid ACT Housing redevelopment project.
+deciding whether to fast-track the roll-out of smart meters based on a cost-benefit analysis.
+increasing the renewable energy capacity of the territory by opening up a auction for solar energy developers early next year.
Mr Corbell said an absence of large industrial energy consumers in the ACT meant the implementation of energy efficiency measures was much easier.
''Our energy profile is overwhelmingly residential. Being able to achieve behavioural change and deliver energy efficiency, being able to deliver less energy-intense options for heating and cooling is much more achievable in a residential and office setting.''
He said the policy would complement the ACT's transport and draft climate change action plan, which would be released soon. The policy drew on 35 submissions from the community and ideas raised in two public forums.