(Updated March 1)
The Australian Federal Government announced this afternoon major changes to current insulation and solar hot water rebates and to its green loans program.
Announced by Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts Peter Garrett; establishment of a new household Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme will replace the Home Insulation Program and the Solar Hot Water Rebate, both of which will be discontinued as of close of business today.
While the insulation component of the Renewable Energy Bonus scheme won’t come into operation until June 1, the new rebate for solar hot water systems and heat pumps will be available for systems installed after today.
Rebates of up to $1600 for solar hot water systems and up to $1000 for heat pumps were previously available. Under the new Renewable Energy Bonus scheme, $1000 rebates will be available for eligible solar hot water systems and $600 rebates for heat pump systems. Current additional state government solar hot water rebates will also still apply.
At this point in time, it is understood householders will claim the new $1000 rebate directly through the Medicare system after purchase instead of installers claiming it after offering the rebate as a point of sale discount, as was often the arrangement under the previous system.
Transitional Arrangements until 19 March 2010
Transitional arrangements have been put in place for people who paid for or ordered their solar hot water systems prior to 20 February 2010.
Eligible solar or heat pump hot water systems purchased or installed prior 20 February 2010 may be eligible for a $1,600 rebate for solar hot water or $1,000 for heat pumps, if proof of purchase or installation prior 20 February 2010 is included with the application.
Applicants who ordered or made partial payment for their solar or heat pump hot water systems but had not had their system installed prior to 20 February 2010, must include written evidence of their order with their rebate application. A receipt for a deposit or a copy of their supplier’s order form is required. A quote is not sufficient evidence of an order.
In all cases final decisions regarding rebate eligibility will be made by the Government
Green loans to be scrapped
In relation to the Green Loans program, a re-design of the scheme will include the discontinuation of what the government terms the “less popular” loans component next month to provide for a “significant boost” to assessment availability. The Federal Government has clarified that it will honour all complying Interest Free Green Loans that have had their loan contracts signed on or before 22 March 2010.
Changes to Green Loans will also include a new cap of 5000 assessors, allowing up to an extra 1200 trained assessors to contract with the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. According to the Government, a new weekly cap of 15,000 assessment bookings and a daily and weekly cap per assessor of three and five respectively will also ensure greater quality and a more even distribution of work for assessors right around the nation. Booking arrangements will be changed to allow only individual assessors to make bookings.
This news item will be updated as further details become available.
Added note: a general discussion about the Green Loans program is occurring in our forums. The discussion thread is rather lengthy as it began well before this announcement. Comments from Energy Matters community members relating to the announcement about the end of the program start here. Energy Matters has also begun publishing details of low interest green loans available from financial institutions, not related to the Australian Government’s Green Loans program.
