Proposal for Energy Consumers Australia: Power Shift Project Two: Developing an Australian Framework to Define and Measure the Co-Benefits of Energy Efficiency

Background: Through its Low Income Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP), the Commonwealth Government funded 20 pilot projects in 2013 that used diverse and innovative approaches to improve the energy efficiency of low-income households across Australia. The pilot studies trialled a variety of energy efficiency initiatives and communications strategies aimed at  changing energy consumers’ decision-making and behaviours. These initiatives differed in their complexity and cost, with varying levels of success. Among them, the co-benefits experienced by households was substantial and warrants further investigation. ECA’s Power Shift Project Two allows such investigation to occur. Exploring the range of cobenefits in Australia, as they relate to energy efficiency improvements, may have significant consequences as links between energy efficiency and health and well-being demonstrate thatenergy efficiency improvements could result in households experiencing many, and invariablymore important, benefits beyond energy efficiency.

Project Description: To complete Power Shift Project Two, GEER will build upon the foundation research of LIEEP by conducting a ‘deep dive’ analysis into 19 of the 20 pilot studies¹. Investigations will be conducted on the individual project reports and supplemented by obtaining informal feedback, as needed, through the broader GEER network, and through a range of secondary sources (e.g., CSIRO meta-analysis on LIEEP, IEP, EA). This further analysis will enable GEER researchers to fully, yet succinctly, describe the co-benefits of each LIEEP project and provide points of comparisons and differences among LIEEP projects. It will also extract the way in which these co-benefits were measured and synthesise these findings with the initiatives used, cohorts targeted and contextual factors that will be useful for policy advisors and future programs. The findings will be used to develop an Australian framework to help identify the multiple and diverse benefits of improved household energy efficiency. This framework will help inform stakeholders about the relative value of the co-benefits of supporting household energy efficiency as they occurred in the LIEEP projects. It will also serve as the basis for further engagement of low-income consumers by the energy sector, community organisations and government bodies. Substantive content for communications material will be developed to facilitate this engagement for distribution by ECA to the relevant sectors.