What started as out as a way to encourage Victorians homes and businesses replace appliances with lower power-hungry models has now turned into “carnage” according to a story broken by The Age on Thursday.
The program, which was central to the government’s net zero emissions ambition is instead increasingly used by dodgy operators to pocket carbon credits and causing thousands of working fridges being “dumped on doorsteps”. The Victorian Energy Upgrades program was introduced in 2009 to allow registered businesses to claim carbon credits when upgrading appliances in homes and business venues to more energy efficient models or installing items to improve temperature control. The carbon credits were known as Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates which are sold in an open market to energy retailers, who are required to buy millions each year. The cost is then passed on to the consumers through household electricity bills. The scheme is so lucrative that the installation of one low cost item such as a draught stopper can be worth one credit. At the time of publication, one certificate was currently selling for $96 each due to low supply, The Age said. The scheme generated $178 million in carbon credits this year through installation of LED light bulbs, cheap plastic doors and vent covers. There are now warnings of power bill hikes and business insolvencies on the horizon if the scheme does not get an overhaul. Notably, a similar scheme in New South Wales has a spot price of $23.25, the report said.