On 17 November 2011, key energy efficiency stakeholders from Australia and around the world met at the Hilton on the Park in Melbourne to engage with leading experts.

The Energy Efficiency Council’s (EEC) annual conference offered approximately 240 attendees the chance to network with presenters from government, academia, and energy provision and distribution businesses.

A main theme for the event was the impact of the Federal Government’s carbon pricing plan on outcomes for energy efficiency in Australia.

EcoGeneration was the official Media Partner for the event, on hand to capture all of the day’s news and views.

Energy in a low-carbon market

Representatives from the Federal Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency provided detailed updates and insights into how the Clean Energy Future Plan will operate and its expected effects on energy efficiency.

Shayleen Thompson, First Assistant Secretary at the Department’s Land Division, explained the operation of the scheme and highlighted how the Department had taken into consideration the barriers to implementing energy efficiency measures when drafting the Clean Energy Future Plan.

When discussing white certificates, Alison Reeve from the Department’s National Energy Savings Initiative also contributed to a deeper understanding of how the revenue raised from carbon pricing and emissions trading can be invested in efforts to maintain a country-wide focus on energy efficiency.

ClimateWorks Australia Executive Director Anna Skarbek presented her organisation’s research and analysis of the carbon pricing scheme and how its associated funding will be distributed.

“There’s a lot of money for information and skills, particularly where transaction costs are high – so that’s for energy efficiency for small businesses,” Ms Skarbek said.

“All of you in the energy efficiency space know that being economically attractive is not rnough, [growth] isn’t happening. The carbon price vastly moves along the volume threshold for how much of the carbon abatement [from energy efficiency] would be prima facie economically attractive.

“Each of the current carbon reduction programs, together with the carbon price, can yield a 124 million tonnes reduction.”

New networks

International expertise was a feature of the EEC National Conference 2011. Presenters included:

  • Richard Cowart, European Director of the Regulatory Assistance Project and Chair of the United States Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee
  • Bob Dixon, Senior Vice-President and Global Head of Efficiency and Sustainability at Building Automation for Siemens
  • Nadeem Sheikh, Director of Client Solutions for Opower in San Francisco
  • Richard Barnes, Global Director for Sustainable Use Services at KEMA.

They provided information on the lessons learned in the United States and Europe for encouraging businesses, residents and consumers to embrace energy efficiency and cogeneration.

Low Carbon Australia Chief Executive Meg McDonald, who chaired the sessions featuring these international experts, noted that examples from North America and other regions could be implemented in Australia to ensure that energy efficiency will never be more attractive than in the next three years.

Australian Energy Market Commissioner Brian Spalding kicked off dialogue about Australia’s energy markets, grids, poles and wires at the beginning of the EEC Conference, while Professor John Thwaites – Chair of ClimateWorks Australia and the Monash Sustainability Institute – wrapped up this theme at the end of the day with his thoughts on the regulatory barriers to distributed energy, including long, uncertain and costly connection processes.

Continuing the conversation

Designated ‘conversation cafés’ at the EEC event provided comfortable spaces for attendees to contribute to discussions on opportunities for efficiency in Australian energy markets, chaired by products and services leasing company Alleasing and the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.

These highly successful mini-debates presented delegates with a strong opportunity for networking, and allowed participants to start up conversations that continued throughout the day and into the post-conference cocktail drinks. EEC National Conference attendees also interacted online in social media forums – Twitter in particular was alive with discourse about the day’s proceedings, with users adding the hashtag #EEC2011.

EEC Chief Executive Rob Murray-Leach commented that the most exciting aspect of the Conference was the way it brought together leaders in innovative thinking from business, government and non-government organisations to share their ideas.

“There was a real sense of engagement, and some genuinely novel projects and ideas emerged during the day,” Mr Murray- Leach said.