Moreland Energy Foundation

This week, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet announced that the Green Start program had been discontinued (see media release).

The Green Start program was intended to be the successor to the Green Loans program.  Round One of the Green Start program would have involved accredited assessors being funded to undertake energy assessments of households to identify ways for the household to reduce their energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.  Round Two was intended to provide funding for organisations to provide practical help to low income and disadvantaged Australian households to implement energy efficiency measures.

MEFL understands that this program has been discontinued due to concerns that the data collected from assessments undertaken under the Green Loans program was not high quality, and that given these concerns, Green Start may not be effective.  However, we are calling on the Government to clarify how it will support low income households in light of this decision, and to explain how the more than $100 million in funding for the program will be reallocated.

Energy efficiency measures can reduce energy use and result in long-lasting reductions in energy bills, but for low income households, even relatively low cost measures may be out of reach. With a carbon price on the horizon, these households need government support, including financial assistance.

For further information, see our media release.  Also see the Alternative Technology Association's media release.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has promised to push hard for the introduction of some form of national carbon pricing in 2011, and this week her Minister for Climate Change Greg Combet gave us a glimpse of what that form may be in an address to the Investor Group on Climate Change Forum.

This post will outline Mr Combet's proposed approach and discuss the two most widely adopted forms of carbon pricing around the world, carbon taxing and emissions trading.

The election is won, and it seems anger over rising energy prices was at least in part responsible for the swing against the Brumby Goverment.  Victoria's new Premier, Ted Baillieu, promised to act on 'cost of living' issues, including rising household bills (see previous blog post), but will he be able to deliver?

What's driving prices up?

There are numerous explanations for increasing energy costs, many of which were obscured during the election campaign.