The Victoria Government’s 2023-24 Budget has confirmed a $1 billion investment in bringing back the State Electricity Commission (SEC), alongside other major funding for renewable energy projects and workforce training.
The Victorian Budget 2023-24 allocates investment in the SEC to drive jobs in renewable energy, while also investing to protect Victoria’s natural environment and help Victorian families with cost of living relief.
The initial $1 billion investment in the SEC will help deliver 4.5GW of power – the equivalent replacement capacity of Loy Yang A – through renewable energy projects.
The State Government said bringing back the SEC won’t just mean more renewable energy, lower power bills and reduced carbon emissions – it will also help create 59,000 jobs.
Victoria Minister for Energy and Resources, Climate Action and the State Electricity Commission, Lily D’Ambrosio, said, “We’re doing what matters for Victorians: bringing back the SEC to kickstart renewable energy investment, drive down power bills, tackle climate change and create thousands of jobs.”
Since Victoria’s energy was privatised, the sector has experienced a chronic shortage of workers in trades. The SEC will help find and train the next generation of tradespeople: maintenance workers, lineys, electricians – and also welders, painters and mechanics.
Other key energy investments in the Budget 2023-24 include:
- $12 million to develop new VET qualifications, fund a business case for the SEC Centre of Training Excellence and deliver on the Victorian Energy Jobs Plan
- $10 million for a Hydrogen Energy Worker Training Centre
- $6 million for a Wind Worker Training Centre
- $20 million to keep working towards Victoria’s world-leading emission reduction targets of 75‑80 per cent by 2035
- $15.3 million package to ensure energy safety legislation keeps pace with rapidly evolving technology, protecting the safety of electrical workers, households and the community
- $20.6 million to support VicGrid’s planning and community consultation for Victoria’s transmission network
- $400 million to roll out another round of the $250 Power Saving Bonus to every Victorian household
- $58.2 million to install 100 new neighbourhood batteries at targeted locations across Victoria – tripling the number of homes with access to a battery and providing crucial extra storage capacity for local communities – as well as interest-free loans for household batteries
- $130,000 in local renewable energy technology for the communities of Benambra and Healesville
- $27 million to progress development on the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal at the Port of Hastings
- $5.1 million to keep progressing the Gas Substitution Roadmap to drive electrification and reduce reliance on fossil gas
