A joint statement from the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for the Environment, and the City of Melbourne

16 October 2015

Australian Government partners with City of Melbourne to deliver lower emissions and lower power bills

The Australian Government will provide financing of up to $30 million for the City of Melbourne to make street lights more energy efficient and reduce emissions across Council and community facilities.

"I am delighted the Australian Government, through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, is investing in energy efficiency," Minister Hunt said.

"The Turnbull Government is committed to lowering power bills and lowering emissions."

"The upgraded street lights will use 56 per cent less power than existing lights. This will slash energy bills for the City of Melbourne by $1.1 million a year and reduce emissions by 110,000 tonnes over the next decade."

"The City of Melbourne takes its leadership role in the area of sustainability seriously. You don't get to be the most liveable city in the world without a strong focus on sustainability and prosperity," the Lord Mayor said.

"We are leading the way with this strong investment to upgrade our street lighting to LED. The City of Melbourne is committed to achieving Zero Net Emissions by 2020, and has a target to source 25 per cent of the municipality's electricity from renewables by 2018."

How the $30 million will be spent: 

• $14.8 million on replacing public lighting with energy efficient LED bulbs;
• $10 million proposed for the Sustainable Melbourne Fund (SMF) to finance Environmental Upgrade Agreements. Subject to State Government regulatory approval, this money will be used to expand the SMF's work to retrofit commercial property;
• $800,000 to complete the installation of 300kw of rooftop solar panels on Council and community facilities such as the Carlton Baths and Carlton Resource Centre;
• $4.4 million on other sustainability initiatives based on the outcomes of a five year Council emission reduction plan.

"Like households across Australia, we understand the savings that can be generated from switching to energy efficient lights and installing solar," said Chair of the City of Melbourne's Environment Portfolio, Cr Arron Wood.

"The emissions saved each year through the upgrade of our public lighting network and the installation of solar panels will be equivalent to taking almost 2800 cars off Melbourne's roads for a year or planting more than 13,300 trees."

The new lighting may also provide the potential for future 'smart city' uses.

For more information on the City of Melbourne's sustainability programs visit: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/sustainability/Pages/Sustainability.aspx