ACT Sustainable Energy Policy 2011-2020.

ACT Sustainable Energy Policy 2011-2020’ s purpose is to establish an integrated policy framework for managing the social, economic and environment challenges faced by the Territory to 2020 as they relate to energy production and use. The Policy’s framework consists of four key targeted outcomes: Outcome 1: Secure and affordable energy; Outcome 2: smarter use of energy; Outcome 3: cleaner energy; Outcome 4: growth in the clean economy.
For each of the abovementioned outcomes specific measures are identifies. In regard to O1 (Secure and affordable energy) the Strategy commits in continuing to actively promote the development of national energy policy and market frameworks that integrate social, economic and environmental policy objectives, promote projects that will increase the security of the ACT’s connection to the National Electricity Market, consider the removal of the regulated electricity tariff and thereby encourage new and innovative pricing and service arrangements, address the impact of rising energy prices on households, among others.
To achieve O2 (smarter use of energy) the Strategy encourages ACT to continue its policy of timely implementation of energy efficiency reforms, to establish a target for the per capita usage of non-renewable electricity, to establish new ambitious energy savings initiative providing support to low-income households, to continue advocating for effective national standards for buildings and building services and to support the improvement of the energy performance of appliances and equipment. The new Transport for Canberra policy will include policy measures and actions to reduce energy use in transport, based on reducing travel demand (e.g. encouraging walking, cycling, public transport, carpooling), increasing vehicle efficiency (light and heavy vehicles). ACT commits to support the roll-out of electric vehicle and continue to work towards best practice in both energy management for its own operations and in its carbon neutrality objective, among others.
Outcome 3 (cleaner energy) includes the following measures: support of renewable and low-carbon distributed energy technologies, continue to support a national carbon pricing regime, assessment of the feasibility of including distributed generation technology in upcoming major developments, encourage a greater awareness and deployment of distributed generation options including cogeneration, trigeneration and large scale, low emissions generation technologies, explore options to create energy from waste, including through trialling of energy from waste technologies will be investigated, among others.
Outcome 4 (growth in the economy)’s measures are: continue to support capability development in ACT companies that are developing clean technology products or services and creating sustainable businesses, continue to support national approaches to skills development that reduce cost and delays in the transition to a clean economy and create new employment opportunities, undertake work to identify local business and research capability in the emerging clean technology sectors.