Australia’s major electricity network operators have failed to plan for renewable energy such as solar making up a growing part of the energy mix - and want to penalise homeowners for their failure, whether they have solar or not according to Solar Citizens.
A recently released report by the Energy Networks Association, Future Network Cost Recovery And Depreciation, outlines a series of harsh penalties it suggests could be imposed on households including:
- an arbitrary and punitive network exit fee if solar households decide to leave the centralised energy grid;
- charging all households whether they are connected to the mains grid or not; and
- a plan to compensate networks for poles, wires and substations no longer needed.
It’s unacceptable for big electricity companies like Ausgrid, Ergon and SA Power Networks to slug solar homeowners for their comprehensive lack of good management and future planning,” said Solar Citizens National Director Claire O’Rourke.
“These companies have been goldplating the electricity network for years, pushing up prices for consumers, and now they’ve been caught out asking for more.
“The number of solar homes in Australia has grown from about 14,000 in 2007 to more than 1.4 million today.
“More and more households are no longer content to just take the deal offered by the big power companies - people want to generate their own clean energy with solar and enjoy the cost savings on their power bills.
“Generating your own solar power allows people to take control of their power bills. Families are installing solar, pensioners are buying rooftop panels and the highest uptake has been among low and middle-income areas.
“We need innovation and new approaches that treat all homeowners fairly and are not aimed at making it harder for people to go solar and lower their power costs,” she said.
Claire O’Rourke is available for interview.
Energy Networks Association, Future Network Cost Recovery And Depreciation, report available here: http://www.ena.asn.au/sites/default/files/ena_future_network_cost_august_2015.pdf
Article courtesy of www.solarcitizens.org.au
