The Annual Reports for Tasmania’s three energy businesses have confirmed the strength and confidence in our state’s energy industry under the stewardship of the Tasmanian Government.
Hydro Tasmania has achieved a strong operating result of $172 million, which was 54 per cent above budget. This means the business can return a dividend to the State budget of $115 million in 2020-21 - $40 million higher than expected.
This outstanding result was achieved whilst maintaining Tasmania’s energy security in a healthy position throughout the year.
TasNetworks has also exceeded expectations and made a profit of $37 million for 2019-20. TasNetworks will return a dividend of $26.7 million from 2019-20 to the State Budget that will be reinvested into our State’s recovery from COVID-19.
TasNetworks also met or exceeded the majority of its performance targets and improved its safety performance in addition to continuing to successfully progress the nation-leading Marinus project.
Aurora is also supporting Tasmanians with significant relief for cost of living and business support through delivering the Government’s quarterly electricity bill waiver, slashing up to $27 million in costs for almost 19,000 small businesses, as well as establishing a $5 million COVID Customer Support Fund to help customers pay their energy bills.
I am particularly proud of the work undertaken by all our businesses in helping the broader community manage COVID-19 impacts through dedicated programs and grants designed to help community groups adjust to life during the pandemic with over $300,000 invested in these programs.
I look forward to working further with our energy businesses to progress our Tasmania-First Energy policy into the future that will benefit our state for years to come.