Funding for energy efficiency and electrification upgrades for local governments

The Community Energy Upgrades program will co-fund energy efficiency and electrification upgrades for local governments to deliver reduced energy bills and emissions from local government owned and/or operated facilities.

The Community Energy Upgrades Fund Round 2 will provide matched funding of up to $2.5 million of eligible expenditure for energy efficiency and electrification upgrades for local governments to deliver reduced energy bills and emissions from local government-owned and/or operated facilities. The program will also support the Commonwealth led National Energy Performance Strategy (NEPS).

The objectives of the program are to support:

• the Government’s broader efforts to reduce emissions and improve energy performance, and contribute to Australia meeting its emission reduction targets of 43 percent by 2030, Net-Zero emissions by 2050, and 82% renewable electricity generation by 2030
• local governments to decarbonise their operations and reduce energy bills through energy efficiency and load flexibility upgrades, and electrification of their existing facilities
• the improvement in energy performance necessary to more easily utilise renewable electricity and improve system reliability.

The intended outcomes of the program are:

• reduced energy bills and emissions from local government-owned and/or operated facilities
• installed energy efficiency, load flexibility and electrification technology that is commercially available
• improved capability of local governments and the wider community to implement energy upgrades and electrification projects in their existing facilities
• increased capacity of domestic supply chains and labour force to support significant future investment in energy efficiency upgrades
• improved workforce skills in delivering and operating energy transition projects.

The program will deliver $100 million over 2 funding rounds and will run over 4 years from 2024-2025 to 2027-28.