A post-election update and call to action, join the RACE for 2030 No Images? Click here Post election newsHello fellow energy tragics Another election passes without anything like a focus from either major party on energy productivity as a core element of integrated energy and climate policy. By way of context, a reminder about why we do the work we do. In 2016-17 the national spend on energy was about $130 billion, about 8% of GDP. Much of that spend is wasted through ineffective and unnecessary use. Even relatively small improvements go to improve profitability, competitiveness and resilience. Ever optimistic, we must believe that energy productivity: · Aligns with fundamental Liberal values of thrift and efficiency, economic productivity and an internationally competitive economy · Is totally in line with the Government’s expressed commitment to lower energy costs for all consumers · Is essential for this Government to meet its climate targets, particularly absent all of the policies that the Coalition has been clear it will not support · Is the most cost-effective way to simultaneously achieve reliable, affordable and lower carbon electricity, energy productivity. So, we need to build our strategy around getting the Morrison Government comfortable with the fact this this should be its preferred priority tool for energy and carbon management. As Minister Taylor returns to work in the energy portfolio (with the addition of ‘emissions reduction’) we thought a good first step in planning the way forward would be to revisit policies that the Coalition took to the election. Key measures (aside from direct cash handouts) include: · General assistance to business: Instant asset write-off. Extended to June 2020 and to companies with turnover up to $50 million. Provides for a deduction of up to $30,000 for the business portion of each new asset. More from the ATO here. · Manufacturing Modernisation Fund of $50 million, matched by $110 million from industry it is: “aimed at stimulating business investment in new technologies and processes as the sector braces for a new wave of automation” Detail to come. · Energy Efficient Communities Program: A $50 million grants program open to community organisations from September and businesses from January. It will support equipment upgrades, investment in monitoring and management, energy systems assessments and feasibility studies. Co-contributions will be required from large business energy consumers but not from community organisations or small businesses. The major drawback for large business is a maximum grant of only $25,000. More here. · Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund: A $50 million program to assess the feasibility of micro-grids in up to 50 off-grid and fringe-of-grid communities. The media release is here. · Freight data hub: Federal budget 2019-20 provides $5.2 million to improve efficiency and productivity in freight transport sector. More from the iMOVE CRC here. The Financial Reviewreport here. · National Strategy for Electric Vehicles: Announced in February it will “will ensure the transition to electric vehicle technology and infrastructure is planned and managed. The fact sheet here. The federal government has allocated $0.4 million for the work. · Climate Solutions Fund: Announcedin February and essentially an extension of the Coalition ‘direct action’ approach, a $2 billion extension of the Emissions Reduction Fund. The Fund is administeredby the Clean Energy Regulator. No detail about the new Fund was available at the time of publication. The [former] Government’s platform for energy productivity was set out in the National Energy Productivity Plan (NEPP) of 2015. The Plan targeted a 40% improvement in energy productivity by 2030. It was developed through COAG Energy Council and engaged the states and territories who have done most of the heavy lifting to date. In our assessment (detailed here), the NEPP has not progressed nearly fast enough due to a lack of Commonwealth support, resourcing and budget. The Commonwealth has not yet published the third annual report on the NEPP, due last December. A review of the NEPP is expected to be undertaken in the second half of this year. We’ve developed a proposed replacement, NEPP 2.0, which now available as a draft for consultation here. We will be updating this document with your input, adding some modelling, converting it into a communications tool and presenting it to the new government. As the government appears committed to focus on ‘direct action’, we will aim to convince the Minister that the most effective form of direct action on climate is energy productivity. A change in the operation of the CSF/ERF to include a separate process for energy productivity could make a variant of the scheme work for business. State and territory governments, most particularly NSW - a returned Berejiklian government with increased focus on energy/climate policy - and the Australian Capital Territory, are ramping up programs to deliver policy outcomes. We’ll provide an updated overview of those initiatives in our next newsletter. As we re-group and gear-up for the next round of advocacy for change in the national interest please think to get involved and offer your support. And if you've not done so already please sign-on to our bid for a national co-operative research centre, the Reliable, Affordable and Clean Energy program. You'll find further background here. Please contact me for further information – and don’t delay. Phone 0418 510 109 or email jonathan.jutsen@a2ep.org.au All the best In the news Retailer reliability obligation: Effective from July this year the obligation falls on electricity retailers and requires that they are able to meet customer demand for [dispatchable] power. An overview of policy intent is hereand the work of the Australian Energy Regulator to implement the policy is here. It may be noteworthy that a contract for demand response can meet the obligation provided it is registered with AEMO Demand Side Participation Information Portal. Is it time for a national energy savings target?: Writing in ecogeneration, Rod Woolley, president of the Energy Savings Industry Association, calls for a national energy savings scheme. He suggests that a 10% saving (by 2030) plugs the gap created by closure of the Liddell coal-fired power station, scheduled for 2022. The story is here The customer-centred transformation: In early April we presented our third Innovation X-Change, this time with a focus on the customer-centred transformation of energy systems. It was a great day with great presentations. The program and presentations are available online here. Forthcoming |