The Victorian Government is providing $23,800 in funding for the Ararat Rural City Council to become more energy efficient and use renewable energy on local facilities as part of the State Government’s $3.4 million Local Government Energy Saver Program.
The program will run until June 2020 and is helping resource constrained councils across regional Victoria to reduce their energy consumption and operating costs from community facilities.
The program provides councils with specialist expertise and resources to assess their emissions profile, undertake energy audits and co-fund energy upgrades to areas such as lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling.
Ararat Rural City Council will conduct energy audits on four local sites that have high energy demands, including the library and fitness centre, and will also be eligible to receive further funding up to $100,000 to undertake energy upgrades.
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, said, “We’re helping regional councils to reduce their energy bills so that more money can go towards services for local communities.
“Local councils are playing a critical role in helping us achieve our target of zero net emissions by 2050.”
