Sunshine state? Not if QCA changes go ahead, CEC claims

The proposed changes to Queensland’s solar feed-in tariff are anything but “fair and reasonable”, the Clean Energy Council (CEC) claims.

The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) conducted a review to estimate a “fair and reasonable” solar feed-in tariff for Queensland and proposed to move to a gross feed-in tariff scheme for rooftop solar power. The CEC claims this proposal would rob Queenslanders of the opportunity to save money by generating their own electricity.

“What the Queensland Competition Authority has proposed is the equivalent of telling people they can’t just use the lemons growing on the lemon tree in their backyard - they have to sell the produce to a wholesaler for next to nothing, and then buy the lemons back at a premium from the supermarket,” said CEC Policy Director Russell Marsh.

“Installing rooftop solar panels is one of the best ways households can save money on their electricity bills because it can significantly reduce the amount of electricity they need to buy from the grid,” Marsh said. “Changing to a gross scheme now would change all of that.”

Currently, households can generate electricity from solar panels for their own use, with any extra electricity feeding back into the grid at a rate of 8 cents per kWh. The gross feed-in tariff scheme would see households selling all their power to the grid at 8 cents per kWh, and then buy back all electricity they use at the retail rate of between 17 and 25 cents per kWh, Marsh said.

“Not only is this proposal unfair, it would also discourage people from trying to do the right thing and be more energy efficient at home,” said Marsh.

The CEC has made a submission to the QCA’s review of Queensland solar feed-in tariffs. The QCA will release a draft report on 30 November, with the final report due in March 2013.