ACT Independent Senator David Pocock has welcomed ARENA’s announcement today that 1000 households in Banks will benefit from an $8.2 million investment in electrifying their homes.
The commitment to trial electrifying homes at scale in one suburb in every state and territory, including the ACT, was negotiated by Senator David Pocock in the last term of parliament. It stems from a grass roots community campaign - Electrify Canberra - that David embraced as part of his first campaign to enter parliament alongside inventor Saul Griffith, founder of rewiring America and Rewiring Australia.
The project will also help households take advantage of technologies including electric vehicles, home batteries and rooftop solar.
Senator Pocock said the idea was simple: electrify a suburb so we can better understand how much households will save and determine the broader benefits to the community.
“We have to ensure everyone in our community benefiting from household electrification - not just those who can afford it,” Senator Pocock said.
“Electrification can save households around $5,000 a year. At a time of rising fuel costs pushing the price of everything up, this represents a huge opportunity.
“We need to accelerate the transition to fully electrified households - these pilots will be an important way ARENA can learn how to speed this up at scale and the kind of supports and regulatory changes needed to achieve this.”
Senator Pocock also encouraged local tradies and installers to register and get accredited to participate in the program.
More information is available on ARENA’s website at https://arena.gov.au/renewable-energy/community-electrification/