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22 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
AU T UMN 20 1 6
TRADE SECRET IS A CERT
A
re you struggling to compete
with other sparkies in your area?
Are they undercutting you,
and you can’t figure out how? Are you
having difficulty with cash flow in your
business as a result?
The solution to all these problems,
in some way, could be the renewable
energy certificate (REC).
RECs are the byproduct of the
Howard Government’s renewable
energy target (RET) – a policy
designed to ensure that at least
33,000GWh of Australia’s electricity
comes from renewable sources by
2020. (The RET was reviewed by the
Federal Government in June 2015 and
reduced from the previously legislated
41,000GWh to 33,000GWh.)
In addition to RECs, state-based
energy efficiency schemes also offer
environmental certificates that can add
value to your business.
Under the various schemes, people
can earn the following simply by making
energy-efficient changes to their
properties:
>
RECs under the RET;
>
Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates
(VEECs) through the Victorian Energy
Efficiency Target (VEET); or,
>
Energy Savings Certificates (ESCs)
through the NSW Energy Savings
Scheme (ESS).
The certificates can later be traded
in for a cash rebate, potentially
improving a contractor’s cash flow and
competiveness in the market.
“High energy users, carbon producers
and energy retailers around the country
have a liability under the RET, which
came into effect in 2001 as part of the
Howard Government’s Climate Change
Action Plan,” Greenbank Environmental
chief executive Fiona O’Hehir says.
“It started as a 2% target but has since
increased to 20% by 2020.
“Now if you install, say, a solar
water-heating system, then you’re
not contributing to greenhouse gas
emissions, which means you’re entitled
to create RECs. RECs are worth money
on the environmental market, which
works similar to a stock exchange.
“So if you want to know why you’re
losing market share, chances are that
your competitor is offsetting the cost of
a system with RECs.”
WHAT ISVEET?
VEET is a Victoria-based scheme and
NEED A CASH FLOW BOOST?
RENEWABLE ENERGY
CERTIFICATES MEAN YOU CAN
GET THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
FOR A FEW PIECES OF PAPER.
PAUL SKELTON
TELLS HOW.
COVER STORY