Martin Ferguson, Australia’s Minister for Resources and Energy

Canberra, Australia --- (METERING.COM) --- June 13, 2012  - The participation of energy networks and major greenfield sites to assess the potential energy savings available to these sectors is to be trialled by Australia’s government as part of the Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) program.

The trials will be undertaken over the next 12 months and will include thorough consultation with industry throughout the process to ensure the development of an effective assessment and reporting framework.

“Under the existing EEO program industry participants have reported annual net cost savings in 2011 of over $800 million and it is important that we spread the benefits of this program to other sectors where it can be proven there is a net benefit,” said minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson. “The trials will better inform how the program should be applied and the relative costs and benefits of program participation to these sectors.”

The trials follow proposals from the industry made during consultations earlier this year.

In addition, the government will undertake a statutory review of the first five-year cycle of the EEO program. This review will assess the effectiveness of the program in building energy management capability and identifying and implementing cost effective energy efficiency opportunities.

In 2011, program participants reported that they have or will implement energy savings of almost 90 PJ, corresponding to 1.5 percent of Australia’s total energy use or the equivalent energy use of 1.8 million Australian households.