Don’t Cut the Victorian Solar Feed-in Tariff: ATA
The Alternative Technology Association is calling on the Victorian Government Coalition to honour its 2010 election commitment and hold off on making major changes to the Victorian feed-in tariff for rooftop solar systems before an independent review is held.
The ATA understands the Victorian Government is on the verge of making an announcement to slash the feed-in tariff, which has supported the boom in solar power systems across the state.
Scrapping the state’s premium feed-in tariff would mean a household with an average 1.5-kilowatt solar system would take up to 20 years to payback its cost in reduced bills. Currently, the payback time is 5-10 years.
Ian Porter, the ATA’s chief executive, urged the government not to make drastic changes before the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission’s review of the state’s solar subsidy scheme later this year.
“The Coalition promised strong support for the Victorian feed-in tariff in its 2010 election campaign, as well as an independent review of the scheme. There is no need to make significant changes to the policy until a proper, independent review has been carried out,” Mr Porter said.
“At an equivalent cost of less than two cups of coffee per household per year, the scheme is extremely cheap and is not hurting Victorian electricity consumers. We are not in a New South Wales-type situation here.”
Victoria’s current tariff allows a household to receive 60 cents for every kilowatt hour of electricity its solar system feeds back into the power grid.
The legislation for the Victorian feed-in tariff provides two benchmarks for a review – 100MW (megawatts) of installed generation capacity, and a $10 per household annual cost for the scheme overall. The achievement of either benchmark acts as a trigger for a review only, and not a cap requiring the closure of the scheme.
“While the 100MW has been reached, the $10 per household benchmark has not. A review should be carried out properly and independently,” said Damien Moyse, the ATA’s energy projects and policy manager.
The ATA believes any adjustment to the new subsidy scheme for small-scale solar systems should ensure Victoria’s burgeoning solar industry continues to flourish.
“As we all know, household solar is fast approaching cost competitiveness with grid electricity and it is universally accepted that we will get to this point well before the end of this decade,” Mr Moyse said. “In fact, under some scenarios, we could reach this point in the next two to three years.”
“The last thing we need now is to end the tariff scheme too early, killing the Victorian solar industry and consumer confidence with it.”
The Alternative Technology Association is Australia’s leading not-for-profit consumer-based organisation promoting renewable energy, sustainable building and water saving.
For comment:
Ian Porter, ATA chief executive: (03) 9631 5404/0412 254 200
Damien Moyse, ATA energy projects and policy manager: (03) 9631 5417/0439 900 692
