Following further consultation with industry and consumer groups, the next phase of the review process would assess protections for Victorians living in existing buildings with embedded networks, while the government would also develop the details of a new licensing regime for anyone who supplies and sells electricity to residences. places.
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The Property Council of Australia, which represents the country’s biggest residential developers, said it supported the Victorian Government’s push to give customers more energy options.
However, the group said it was crucial that any new renewable energy requirements for existing networks did not affect their ability to provide low-cost energy, “particularly in settings such as retirement communities where most residents they receive fixed pensions”.
“The Property Council has focused on having productive discussions on how best to implement the proposed new renewable energy requirements for local energy networks that balance renewable energy and physical infrastructure requirements,” a spokesman said.
“We hope to resolve this issue in the near future.”
The announcement comes as consumers on the East Coast face electricity bill hikes of hundreds of dollars a year as the fallout from the war in Ukraine worsens a global energy crisis and drives up the cost of operating the coal and gas-fired power plants that still supply most of the nation’s main grid.
These important reforms will improve consumer protection for Victorian households, while supporting the council’s mission to power Melbourne with 100% renewable energy by 2030.
The Mayor of the City of Melbourne, Sally Capp
Electricity supplier rate changes and increases in “default market offers” (the price caps on what retailers can charge those who don’t accept special offers or bundle their utility bills) add to worsening cost-of-living pressures for Australians as inflation hits a two-decade high.
Melbourne City Mayor Sally Capp said the Victorian Government’s reforms would help enable the transition to “innovative renewable energy solutions”.
“These important reforms will improve consumer protection for Victorian households, while supporting the council’s mission to power Melbourne with 100% renewable energy by 2030 and become a zero-emissions city by 2040,” he said. to say.
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