In a project funded by the City of Yarra for FY23/24, YEF is exploring the potential of network tariff reform in driving business incentives to boost renewable energy solutions for commercial organisations in the City of Yarra.

The driver for the investigation is to explore if there are future tariffs which could unlock new value and create strong financial incentives for businesses to invest in sustainability solutions.

Project Objectives

• Focus on outcomes that could unlock value for many businesses across the City of Yarra, rather than specific barriers facing individual businesses/landlords’ buildings.
• Build on the findings from and leverage existing data, knowledge, relationships, and lessons from the Better Energy, Better Businesses project and YEF’s Innovative Tariff Investigation project with CitiPower.
• Extend the Neighbourhood Battery Initiative Round 2-funded innovative tariff investigation with the Wired for Tomorrow’s Business investigation.
• Engage and seek feedback from at least three businesses/landlords in the City of Yarra to understand how the potential impacts of tariff reforms may enable or change their appetite to invest in sustainability.

What is the concept of a ‘local use of system tariff’?

A local use of system tariff or ‘LuOS’ is a customised electricity pricing system applied to electricity that is both generated and consumed within a specific local network area. The primary aim of LuOS tariffs is to encourage local generation and consumption of electricity. In practical terms, LuOS tariffs could lower the distribution fees on an electricity bill, which are the costs associated with the transmission and distribution of electricity throughout the grid.