Environmental & Other Charges

Environmental Charges are costs associated with complying with Government schemes which are aimed at promoting efficient use of energy, reducing greenhouse gas and funding renewable energy generation.

There are currently six schemes which apply to large businesses:

• LRET – Large Renewable Energy Target
• SRES – Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme
• GGAS – Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (NSW)
• ESS – Energy Savings Scheme (NSW)
• VEET – Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET)
• QGS – Queensland Gas Scheme (QGS)

ARE THESE SCHEMES APPLICABLE TO ALL STATES?

Both the LRET and SRES schemes are linked to the Federal Government’s targets of 20% of energy generation from renewable sources by 2020.

The other schemes are state-based schemes and are regulated by the state governments.

The regulator estimates how many certificates will need to be surrendered for that year to meet the targets.

Based on this estimate, the regulator determines a compliance percentage of the applicable certificates that the liable entity (your retailer) will need to purchase and surrender on behalf of their customers.

LIST OF CHARGES EXPLAINED