A review of the Energy Efficiency Improvement Scheme has found that the program saves participating households about $1600 each, Minister for the Environment, Simon Corbell, announced yesterday.

Mr Corbell tabled a review of the scheme in the Legislative Assembly yesterday that showed greenhouse gas reductions as a result of the program between 1 January 2013 and 31 March 2014 were the equivalent of 237,908 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

"More than 24,000 households have participated in the Energy Efficiency Improvement Scheme to March 2014. As a result, we anticipate that participating households will save about $1600 over the lifetime of the activities they have implemented," Mr Corbell said.

 "Importantly, about 30% of the savings to participating households relate to low-income households, and the savings significantly exceed expected pass-through costs of about $30 per year over the initial three-year life of the EEIS."

The Energy Efficiency Improvement Scheme (EEIS) was established under the Energy Efficiency (Cost of Living) Improvement Act 2012. It requires individual electricity retailers to achieve energy savings in households and small-to-medium enterprises. The EEIS commenced on 1 January 2013 and is legislated to run until 31 December 2015.

The review of the Act was commissioned by the ACT Government and undertaken by consultants Jacobs SKM. The review considers the future operation of the Act after 2015 and any changes required to improve the current operation of the Act.

The review found that there are clear benefits in continuing the EEIS, as it reduces the cost of energy to households and small-to-medium enterprises, including the cost associated with meeting the ACT's Renewable Energy Target. The review also highlighted high satisfaction with the EEIS from participating households.

The ACT Government will now do further work to determine the future of the program post 2015.

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