Sustainable Household Scheme review

2023-01-01

The ACT Government’s zero interest loan for carbon and bill saving upgrades in ACT households has experienced much higher uptake than initially anticipated. Common Capital was engaged by the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainability Development Directorate to review the Sustainable Household Scheme (SHS) and consider options that could improve outcomes and support the scheme’s long-term financial sustainability.

Key takeaways

Based on current funding and scheme settings, the scheme is projected to save over $427 million in energy bills, over 250,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions, and produce more than 2.4 million MWh of additional solar generation.
There has been high demand for solar PV under the SHS, with installations accounting for 71% of the scheme’s expenditure.
Reverse cycle heating and cooling appliance upgrades deliver 96.5% of the scheme’s emissions reductions.
Current funding is projected to last until September 2023. We investigated a range of options that could extend funding, including removing solar as an eligible activity, capping solar loans and apply a nominal interest rate on loans for solar upgrades. Removing solar extended the scheme the longest and delivered the highest emissions reductions, but the lowest lifetime bill savings.

Sustainable Household Scheme review

Key takeaways

Common Capital

Who we are

What we do

Get in touch