A national energy efficiency program to assist low-income households. /

KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler)

KPMG were engaged by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and in conjunction with Ecos Corporation conducted a study into the possible impacts of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) on low-income households. This report outlines the range of options available to the Government for providing assistance. We welcome the Commonwealth Government’s commitment to addressing the problem of climate change, its acknowledgement of the difficulties facing low-income households and its commitment to engage with the community through the Green Paper. This report puts forward a roadmap for the Government to meet its commitment made in the Green Paper to assist low-income households. Our roadmap demonstrates the difficulties which will confront low-income households but more importantly provides a detailed plan of action to close the gap in the expected extra costs of energy bills resulting from the CPRS. The program outlined in this paper ensures that money will be spent in a way that most effectively meets the aims of the Commonwealth Government’s policy to provide assistance to low-income households. A cornerstone of our implementation plan is an unprecedented program of targeted home visits, aimed at harnessing the full potential of energy efficiency measures. Home visits achieve this by matching energy efficiency measures to the characteristics of the house, as well as taking into account demographic, geographic and climatic issues.