CANBERRA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Australians living in the states of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria will be offered government incentives to save electricity as the government continues to attempt to prevent similar summer blackouts which occurred during oppressive heat last year.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said on Wednesday that customers would be offered monetary incentives to turn down their air conditioners and limit their energy use in peak times, under a 36 million Australian dollar (28.1 million U.S. dollar) program to secure the nation's supply over the hot summer.
"The pilot projects will involve installing remote monitoring and control devices in commercial and industrial businesses, such as cold storage, to curb energy use during extreme peaks," said Frydenberg in a media release.
"Thousands of households will also be invited to voluntarily conserve their energy use under the pilot projects in exchange for incentives such as rebates on their power bills.
The minister described the plan as a "demand response" initiative, saying it would work by offering energy users and billpayers "financial incentive" to "conserve their energy use during times of peak demand."
The method is already used in other nations and regions around the world including in the United States and New Zealand. While also under the government's scheme, at least 50 large-scale commercial companies will have technology installed to remotely control and reduce energy during appropriate times.
Last summer, South Australia experienced three catastrophic power blackouts due to a combination of heatwaves and an overall lack of supply, leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power for hours at a time.
Both the federal and state governments have since been trying to secure the state's power supply. The nation's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has predicted a looming summer season of crippling heatwaves.
