The South Australian Government has announced it is investigating the possibility of an expansion of its household energy efficiency scheme with the aim of driving down power bills in the state.

 

State Energy Minister, Tom Koutsantonis, said a review will examine the ways to ensure more customers – particularly those on low incomes – can make savings on their bills.

 

The review of the Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme (REES) is part of the suite of energy reforms introduced by the State Government that aims at improving standards in the retail energy sector and removing contract exit fees.

 

“Today I am launching an issues paper as the first step toward a planned expansion of the scheme that will allow us to explore new ways to drive energy efficiency in our homes,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

 

The Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme was launched in 2009, and has since delivered an estimated $107 million in savings across 165,000 households in the state.

 

Public consultation on the REES issues paper is now open with submissions received until 12 November 2012. The paper can be found online at the Department for Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy website at http://www.dmitre.sa.gov.au/reesreview