to drive down energy costs, create jobs, improve reliability and reduce emissions. The Business Council of Australia supported the plan, stating it created confidence for businesses to invest and create new jobs for the future. But what about those businesses that already invested in renewables? Over the past several years, retailers all over Australia have been investing in renewable energy measures in order to cut down on rising energy costs – investments into an industry that, seemingly, will soon be less secure than it was a year ago. One of the biggest investors in such technology has been the supermarket sector, with Coles, Woolworths and Aldi all having made varying commitments to more sustainably power their respective national chains.  Woolworths has made a commitment to solar power with around one hundred of its supermarkets having had rooftop solar panels installed, and newly created distribution centres made with solar compatibility in mind. In total, Woolworth’s sustainability investments have so far delivered an 18 per cent reduction in carbon emissions on 2015 levels, and the business last week committed to cut emissions even further.  Coles made a ten-year commitment in 2019 to power around 10 per cent of its electricity demand with solar – a number which was bumped up to almost 30 per cent last week with the announcement that 90 per cent of its power in Queensland will be coming from primarily solar and wind, with the remainder supported by hydro and gas.  Coles has also installed solar power at 69 of its stores. It’s Aldi, however, that has made the most compelling commitment – in that it has installed on-site solar at 82 of its stores and 2 distribution centres, and has signed power purchase agreements with wind farms across New South Wales and Victoria.  And, notably, it is aiming to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of 2021.  The supermarkets sector’s investments are warranted, being one of the country’s largest users of energy. According to Greenpeace’s REenergise report for 2019, Woolworths was the fifth largest electricity user in the country, behind only four large mining and manufacturing companies, while Coles landed within the top ten.  “Major companies like Coles and Woolworths are some of our biggest energy users,” said Greenpeace’s REenergise campaign director Lindsay Soutar. “If they switch their operations to 100% renewable energy they can help create a clean and resilient economy with more jobs for everyday Australians. “Now more than ever, Australia needs future-proof jobs, sound investment decisions, economic stability, and renewable energy commitments.” But with the Government’s decision to redirect funding to the renewables sector toward gas, these investments could see their value lessened by no fault of the energy industry or the investor itself, but by Government policy.  And it isn’t purely the supermarket industry that could be impacted. Kathmandu has stated it will embrace solar power to reach a net zero target by 2025, while Domino’s is rolling out solar panels and energy controllers across all of its stores.  Vicinity Centres is investing $75 million into a large-scale rooftop solar program which aims to cut its consumption from the grid by up to 40 per cent, and Inter Ikea is aiming to be climate positive by 2030, with its biggest franchisee Ingka Group having generated as much power as it used last year “Being climate smart is not an added cost. It’s actually smart business and what the business model of the future will look like … Everything around fossil fuels and daft use of resources will be expensive,” Ingka Group CEO Jesper Brodin said.