The Hodgman Liberal Government is dedicated to lowering cost of living pressures for Tasmanians.
Today I can announce that the popular Tasmanian Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme (TEELS) will be extended for another year thanks to an additional $20 million being made available to fund approved purchases under the scheme.
The scheme is a continuation of the joint initiative of the Tasmanian Government, Aurora Energy and Westpac, and had been due to close at the end of this month. Under the extension, home and small business purchases of products up to $10,000 will continue to be eligible for the scheme.
TEELS provides interest-free finance for three years for a range of eligible purchases including high efficiency heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage, efficient wood heaters, efficient hot water systems, insulation and a range of other energy saving products.
Funding is available thanks to Westpac, offering Tasmanians the ability to apply for a Westpac Credit Card to purchase eligible energy efficient products at zero interest.
This is great news for households and small businesses that had not previously taken advantage of this scheme to purchase energy efficiency products.
It is also great news for businesses selling and installing energy efficiency products.
TEELS will now run until 30 April 2019, or until the additional $20 million finance pool is exhausted.
Under TEELS up to 6 April, over $18 million in loans have been approved to 2,295 successful applicants.
The TEELS scheme is in addition to the highly successful no interest loan scheme (NILS), designed to assist vulnerable households to access to energy efficiency products, delivered by Aurora Energy in partnership with NILS through its Your Energy Support (YES) initiative.
I am thrilled this outstanding partnership between Westpac, Aurora and the Government will continue to assist more Tasmanians cut down on the cost of living.