Australia’s 2.4 million small businesses are being encouraged to take practical steps to reduce their energy bills as a way of improving their competitiveness.
Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) CEO Oliver Yates said the new Energy Cut initiative provides small businesses with valuable ways to manage energy costs.
“Small businesses are the engine room of the Australian economy, accounting for nearly half of private sector employment,” Yates said.
“Energy Cut provides these businesses with expert knowledge on improving their energy efficiency, which has the potential to improve productivity and business performance.”
Yates was speaking at the Canberra launch of the Energy Cut book and website last week.
Energy Cut provides small businesses with a practical 20-step guide to saving energy, and provides details on how to better manage heating and air conditioning systems, and secure financing for energy efficiency upgrades.
Energy Cut is a joint initiative of not-for-profit positive-change organisation Do Something and the Council of Small Business Australia (COSBOA). It was researched by Do Something’s Jon Dee, who also co-founded Plant Ark and National Tree Day.
Funding is being made available from the federal government's Department of Industry. Yates said that CEFC finance was already helping small businesses control their energy costs, by installing new efficient equipment and solar PV.
For example, a Victorian fresh produce supplier has slashed cool room energy costs by about a quarter through a major refrigeration upgrade and a NSW foam manufacturer more than halved its lighting bills by uprading with induction lamps.
To learn more about Energy Cut visit http://www.Energy Cut.com.au/