Exciting initiative to help you save on your power bills
With the mercury dipping below zero and electricity bills soaring during Canberra’s freezing winter, there’s some exciting news for those wanting to save on your power bills.
Homeowners and homebuyers in the ACT will soon be able to apply for zero-interest loans to pay for energy efficient home upgrades under the Barr Government’s $150 million ACT Sustainable Household Scheme in this new financial year.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr launched the scheme in mid-July – part of his electoral promise to Canberrans before the ACT Assembly elections in October 2020 and his government’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions target for the ACT by 2045.
Australian start-up energy finance company Bright has won the ACT Government’s tender process for the schemeand a pilot scheme to test and refine the scheme has already been launched.
According to the ACT Government’s Actsmart website, the Sustainable Household Scheme will provide zero-interest loans of between $2,000 and $15,000 to eligible ACT households to help with the upfront costs of investing in energy efficient home upgrades.
The loans must be repaid over 10 years and the scheme will be open to new applications for five years.A pilot program for the scheme involving a small number of homes that have already taken part in an Actsmart workshop are the first participants in the pilot.
The full scheme will be rolled out early this financial year, when it will be opened to all eligible households. More than 5,000 Canberra households have already expressed interest in taking part in the scheme.
Products that will be included under the scheme include:
• Rooftop solar panels
• Household battery storage systems
• Electric heating and cooling systems
• Hot Water Heat Pumps (HWHP)
• Electric stove tops
• Electric vehicles
• Electric vehicle charging infrastructure
• Installation costs for these products.
Brighte, which is backed by Australian software giant Atlassian’s co-founder and billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, was set up in 2015 and has already provided more than $900 million in loans for home energy and home improvements.
Katherine McConnell, founder and CEO of Brighte, posted on LinkedIn: “I am beyond excited to finally share the news that Brighte has won the competitive tender process for the $150m ACT Sustainable Homes Scheme and has been selected as the best in class and exclusive provider of energy finance for the people of the ACT. Our team is ready to go to help accelerate sustainable home transition in ACT.”
“This program sees Brighte extending our capabilities to now offer finance for electric vehicles both new and second hand and EV charging infrastructure as well as home electrification such as heat pumps, electric stoves and more.
“Thank you to ACT Government and Chief Minister Andrew Barr for putting your trust in Brighte to help you deliver on your ambitious target of net zero by 2045. Zero is what we need to aim for and this fantastic initiative is a great way to deliver on this ambition.”
She said Brighte’s focus is on making every home sustainable.If you’re an ACT homeowner or homebuyer looking to utilise the scheme for your next energy efficient home upgrade, you will be able to apply directly through your vendor accredited under the scheme once the current pilot is complete. ACT businesses looking to sign up as an energy efficient supplier will have to apply to become Brighte accredited.
For more information, you can call the Brighte team on their dedicated ACT Scheme number: 1300-228-747.
You can also register your interest in keeping informed about the scheme here.