Introducing the Energy Efficient Communities Program:

The Energy Efficient Communities Program which is designed to deliver $40 million in grants for the community, will contribute to the emissions reductions and lowering of energy bills across the country.

The intention through the Development by the government is to support businesses helping them save through a number of tactics and also by cutting down on energy costs,

including:

Investment in monitoring solutions and management systems to better track consumption

Upgrading equipment with the ones that has a better energy rating
As per the Australian Standard Community organisations making assessments on energy efficiency opportunities, exclusively can gain access to storage and generation developments (like PV panels, solar batteries, solar hot water).

How will you be able to get this funding?
The program runs through two separate pathways:

1: The Community Organisations Stream: opened on 2 April, 2020.

2: The Business Stream: opens mid-2020
To find out more on how to access the grant about the Community Organisations Stream, visit this website for all details.

A handful of community organisations have already received an invitation to apply for this funding (in a separate round) It’s also important to note, in order to cater to the objectives from the 2019 election.

How much money is available?
Community organisations can apply for a grant of up to $12,500. Up to $20,000 is available for small businesses, A grant of $250,000 available for businesses with high energy usage (with co-contribution needed).

Who is eligible for the Communities Program?
There are a number of groups that are able to receive this funding from not-for-profit groups through to welfare centres and more, and a number of those who are excluded from the list. For the full list, we recommend

visiting the official page here.

Who can get the Business Stream funding?

Businesses that are small generally with less than $10 million a year are eligible. Meanwhile, High energy usage businesses with (over 0.05 petajoules each year) are also able to apply.

However the full details will be released later this year on how to apply for this section of the grant.

> For all other lists of eligible businesses and applicants, please head to the Business.gov.au or Energy.gov.au.

Help is available to you and your business
Aside from this announcement, the government also recently increased the asset tax write-off to $150,000, meaning you can invest in a solar energy solution to lower inevitably higher bills in the future.