The Tasmanian Liberal Government understands many Tasmanians are facing cost-of-living pressures which is why we announced a suite of targeted measures aimed at short-term, medium and longer-term assistance for households.
To provide immediate help, an estimated 94,230 Tasmanians on concession cards (including those in embedded networks) are already receiving their $180 Bill Buster Payment, at a total cost of almost $17 million.
Eligible concession account holders would have started to see the one-off bill credit of $119, in addition to the $61 concession increase, included in their August electricity bills helping them offset any bill shock. In addition, eligible pensioners will continue to receive a payment of $56 for the year as part of the Heating Allowance.
Following the success of the previous loan scheme, we also announced medium-term support with a bolstered and expanded Energy Saver Loan Scheme.
This Scheme provides loans up to $10,000 over 3 years to assist more Tasmanians reduce their energy costs, through measures like double glazing, battery storage, heat pumps and solar panels. As an important step to ensure taxpayers get value for money, a competitive process to secure a provider for the new and boosted program is progressing well and should be completed in coming weeks.
Investment in energy saver appliances will deliver benefits over many years and is not just targeted at this winter but part of our longer-term plan to assist households.
We know that following the success of the previous scheme that there is strong demand for this and it's fantastic that we're already seeing Tasmanians pre-registering their interest on ReCFIT's website for the program.
Earlier this month the Government we also announced more immediate support by providing an additional $1 million to Aurora Energy for its hardship program to provide assistance for customers experiencing financial difficulty, bringing the total amount available to $2.7 million, and from July 1 aurora + was available for free.
Since coming to office in 2014, the Government has ensured electricity prices for Tasmanian residential customers have only increased by 5.8 per cent in nominal terms and have actually decreased by 15.4 per cent in real terms.
And, for small businesses, since 2014 electricity prices have decreased by 5.8 per cent in nominal terms and decreased by 25 per cent in real terms.
The Tasmanian Government remains committed to delivering the lowest, or amongst the lowest electricity prices in Australia, plus a long-term plan for energy security and to be a leader in renewable energy and the industries and jobs of the future.
Details on the electricity concessions can be found at: https://www.concessions.tas.gov.au/concessions/electricity_and_heating
