The Energy Efficiency Certificate Creators Association has welcomed today’s commitment by the Victorian Labor Party to the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) scheme.
“More than 1.4 million households and businesses across Victoria have benefited from the VEET scheme in the last five years,” Mr Bruce Easton, President of EECCA, said.
“We are very disappointed that the Victorian Government has today passed legislation in the Upper House to reduce the Target and close the VEET scheme.”
“This will cost over 2000 jobs, it will cost households and businesses, and it will discourage take up of energy efficiency activities in Victoria,” Mr Easton said.
EECCA welcomes Victorian Labor’s commitment to VEET and looks forward to hearing more about its policy in the lead up to the November state election.
“We want to see the VEET scheme continue to 2029 as it was originally intended, and strengthened so that more Victorian households and businesses can benefit from the take up of energy efficiency activities,” Mr Easton said.
The VEET scheme commenced in 2009 and was established to help Victorian households and businesses reduce their energy consumption and save money. It aligns with similar schemes in NSW, South Australia and the ACT, all of which are delivering real savings and benefits.
“Victorians want to be energy efficient; they want to install energy efficient lighting, heating, insulation and appliances,” Mr Easton said.
“Scrapping VEET, which is saving more than one million Victorian households and businesses over $100 a year each and making us more energy efficient, just doesn’t make sense.”
EECCA believes that the modelling put forward by the Government to justify scrapping the VEET scheme is flawed.
“The assumptions used by the Government had no base and didn’t understand how the Scheme actually operates,” Mr Easton said.
“Our analysis shows that the scheme has actually delivered proportionally more energy efficiency activities to lower-income areas, reducing their energy costs and saving them money.”
The Energy Efficiency Certificate Creators Association represents Australian businesses that operate in energy efficiency schemes in Victoria, NSW, South Australia and the ACT.
