New South Wales and Victoria regulators’ decision to slash solar feed-in tariffs has been decried by the wider solar industry.
This week, New South Wales’ Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) recommended that the minimum solar feed-in tariff be cut to between 4.4 to 5.8c/kWh – even though the tariff is a voluntary rate paid by retailers.
Last week, the Victorian Essential Services Commission cut the minimum solar feed-in tariff by 20 per cent to 5c/kWh. Commenting on IPART’s cut, Solar Citizens Campaigns Director Dan Scaysbrook said it was “extremely unfair and a disaster for NSW’s 262,301 solar households”.
“The cut will obviously make it difficult for individual households to get a good deal from their power company. They simply don’t have the negotiating power. When retailers set the rules, solar owners lose.
“It punishes tens of thousands of households that are likely to lose a large chunk of the already small financial return they receive from providing clean, renewable energy back into the grid.”
Clean Energy Council Policy Manager Darren Gladman said Australian states continue to overlook the broader value of solar power and storage to the electricity network.
“There are three key components of a solar feed-in tariff that have been overlooked by all state governments to date. These are peak wholesale value, carbon abatement and the avoided spend on poles and wires.
“The wholesale value of the electricity can be as much as $13.50 per kWh during periods of high power demand, while those households helping to supply it will be paid just five cents or less. A critical peak feed-in tariff would reward households and businesses for the real value of the electricity they feed into the grid.”
Mr Gladman said now that Australia no longer had a carbon pricing mechanism, it would be fair to pay solar households an extra 2c/kWh on top of existing feed-in tariffs – in recognition of the carbon abatement they deliver.
