The Northern Territory ranks last in household energy performance policy on the Energy Efficiency Council’s inaugural national scorecard, finding the jurisdiction had no government-provided consumer information or household energy efficiency incentive program, and new homes retain a 5-star minimum, rather than the National Construction Code’s 7-star minimum requirement.

The Council is the Australian peak body for energy providers, technology suppliers, product manufacturers, and research institutions focused on helping consumers cut power usage, switch from gas to electric appliances, and increase renewable power, especially during peak periods.

Chief executive officer Luke Menzel said the State Energy Performance Policy Scorecard assesses how governments are helping households reduce energy bills, improve comfort and resilience, and benefit from energy efficiency, electrification and demand flexibility.

He said the scorecard should be seen first as a household cost-of-living, health and comfort story, not a technical policy exercise.

“We developed a robust methodology, gathered the evidence, and rated each and every jurisdiction for their energy efficiency, electrification and energy flexibility policies and programs,” Mr Menzel said.

“It shows that some Australian households are far better supported than others to cut energy use, lower bills, improve comfort and participate in the energy transition.

“No jurisdiction is perfect – there is room for improvement across the board. But these findings show there is an urgent need for some states to step up their efforts in supporting households to respond to the cost-of-living crisis.”

The NT scored an overall rating of one star out of 10 to rank eighth, below Queensland with two stars, while the ACT was the best with seven stars, above Victoria, also on seven, and New South Wales with six.

In the category breakdowns, the Territory was given one star out of 10 for energy efficiency, one star for electrification and three for demand flexibility. Electrification means reducing household energy consumption from direct fossil-fuel use like gas stoves, to efficient electric appliances like induction or electric cooktops.

“Our analysis has found limited direct policy measures designed to improve energy performance, with existing initiatives largely confined to battery incentives, EV concessions and social housing upgrades,” the report said.

“We find that policy development across all three assessment areas would improve outcomes for households.

“Energy efficiency policy in the Northern Territory is limited, with the principal activity concentrated in remote social-housing upgrades rather than measures applying across the wider building stock.”

The report identified specific deficiencies, including no government-provided consumer information or household energy-efficiency incentive program, no community-targeted or apartment-specific energy-efficiency programs, and no minimum rental energy-efficiency standards or home-energy disclosure requirements.

It said new homes retain a 5-star minimum, rather than the NCC’s 7-star minimum requirement, and the Territory’s strategy lacks concrete household actions, targets and dedicated workforce measures.

“The Northern Territory has some targeted support through social housing, electric-vehicle concessions and the former battery rebate scheme, but lacks an overarching framework for efficient household electrification,” the report said.

The report make three recommendations to the NT government: introduce a comprehensive electrification and energy efficiency incentive program covering heat pumps, efficient appliances and home upgrades; establish minimum rental standards and home energy disclosure requirements to improve building performance across the housing stock; and develop a Territory-wide energy performance strategy, including Virtual Power Plant incentives and consumer education.

VPPs are a network of small-scale energy supplies, including household batteries, rooftop solar systems, electric vehicles that are aggregated and coordinated using software.

The project was funded by Energy Consumers Australia, which is a not-for-profit established by the Council of Australian Governments’ Energy Council and funded through levies on energy-market participants collected by the Australian Energy Market Operator. It is governed by a board appointed by the federal, state and territory energy ministers.

Energy Minister Gerard Maley did not respond to a request for comment.