VIC Renewable Energy Target (2016)

Policy Engagement Overview

• The evidence collected on corporate and industry lobbying on the VRET from 2016-19 indicates that the majority of corporate influence on the policy has been unsupportive or oppositional.
• Companies such as Origin Energy and Viva Energy, as well as industry groups including Ai Group, Australian Energy Council and Business Council of Australia, have opposed the VRET or lobbied to weaken the target. These entities emphasized the risk of increased energy prices, the need for a technology-neutral approach, and/or the need to avoid duplication with the (less ambitious) federal Renewable Energy Target.
• Clean Energy Council appeared to actively support the VRET in 2017-18.

Impacts on Policy Ambition

Despite the negative corporate and industry lobbying on the VRET in 2016-19, the Victorian Government increased the target from 25 to 50% by 2030 under the Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017, enacted in 2020.