Large Tasmanian businesses will soon be able to access up to $20,000 to help with the cost of electricity thanks to a new Rockliff Liberal Government grant program to assist eligible businesses affected by the unexpected increases in unregulated contract power prices.
The guidelines for the Large Business Customer Electricity Support Scheme will be published on the Business Tasmania website from today, with applications opening at 2 pm on Wednesday, 22 March 2023 and closing at 2 pm on Monday, 31 July 2023.
As announced in the Premier’s State of the State speech, there are larger commercial and industrial businesses that were forced to recontract at high prices during last year’s volatility in the wholesale energy market. These businesses were not covered within the proposed National Energy Bill Relief program.
”Tasmanian businesses that have an annual contracted consumption greater than 150 Megawatt hours, who entered or enter into a new fixed price electricity agreement with a Tasmanian retailer between 1 April 2022 and now extended to 30 June 2023, could be eligible for these one-off grants,” Minister Barnett said.
”The grants are designed to help those who have experienced financial strain due to contracting at a higher weighted average electricity price than their previous agreement.
”I encourage operators of larger businesses to check their eligibility and consider an application for up to $20,000 in assistance.
Meanwhile, these larger businesses will also soon be able to access a $50 million Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme, with consultation on the design of the scheme recently completed. The Government will support loans of up to $10,000 will be available interest free, with a further $50,000 available at low interest rates,” Mr Barnett said.
Small businesses and Tasmanian households in need may also be eligible for assistance through the National Energy Bill Relief program from July 1 2023. The Revised Estimates Report included a $33 million provision for the Tasmanian Government’s contribution to that fund, which is expected to be rolled out from 1 July.
