Up to $20,000 will be available to small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $10 million to upgrade equipment to reduce energy consumption, invest in monitoring systems and conduct energy audits to investigate other opportunities for efficiency.
Up to three grants per electorate will be awarded to eligible small businesses as part of government efforts to equitably distribute funding across Australia.
The initiative forms the government’s $9 million Energy Efficient Communities Program and is part of their Climate Solutions Package in the 2019 federal budget.
Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the grants will ease financial pressure during these tough economic times.
“As small businesses come out of COVID-19 hibernation, we want to help them lower their power bills so they can spend money on more important aspects of their business, or expand and employ more people,” Mr Taylor said.
“These grants build on other government policies like retail price caps that are already delivering lower energy costs for small-business owners.”
Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Michaelia Cash said small businesses are key to getting the economy back on track as Australia responds to the impact of COVID-19.
“Providing support to unlock energy savings in their operations will only add to the resilience of these businesses,” Minister Cash said.
