Energy Efficient Communities (EEC) Program

The EEC program provides small and medium businesses in the food and beverage manufacturing industry with cash grants of up to $25,000.

The grants are provided to help businesses improve energy efficiency practices and technologies, and better manage energy consumption to reduce their power bills.

The grant will cover up to 100% of the eligible project expenditure to a maximum of $25,000.

Successful applicants will only need to contribute to costs if their project costs more than $25,000, or if the project includes expenditure that is not eligible for funding.

The objective of the grant is to assist businesses in saving energy by:

• replacing existing equipment with more energy efficient equipment
• installing or replacing components to help existing systems run more efficiently
• carrying out energy audits
• monitoring and optimising energy use and emissions
• increasing knowledge of energy efficiency practices
• positioning small and medium sized enterprises to adopt future technological advancement in energy consumption.

The intended outcomes of this grant are to:

• lower energy costs through the adoption of energy efficiency practices and equipment
• increase awareness of energy efficiency opportunities
• enable energy savings that lead  to reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Eligibility

To be eligible businesses must:

• have between 1 and 199 employees, averaged over any consecutive 12 month period since 1 July 2019
• aim their project at reducing energy consumption of your business
• have at least $10,000 in eligible expenditure on their project
• include activities in their project that are listed in Appendix A of the grant opportunity guidelines.

How to apply

Applications open on 12 January 2022 and will be open until 18 February 2022.

If you have any questions regarding the Energy Efficient Communities Program, or would like assistance determining your business’ eligibility, contact Josh Gordon on 03 5443 0344 or email afs@afsbendigo.com.au