Solar rebate switch urged
Make states pay: ACCC
A RENEWABLE energy scheme would be scrapped and state governments forced to stop passing on the cost of generous solar and wind subsidies to all households under a radical overhaul of Australia’s broken energy market.
Households in Victoria on bad deals will save up to $750 a year on their power bills if the Turnbull Government goes ahead with every recommendation of the major review by the consumer watchdog.
The average household in the state, which is this year paying $1457, would see their annual power bills drop by $291 in three years.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission review has also rejected a plan being considered by the Andrews Government to force power retailers to offer electricity at regulated prices, saying it should be a “last resort”.
The consumer watchdog has released its long-awaited audit of the national electricity market and called for major reform, including a ban on big power companies merging or buying rivals and sweeping new powers for the regulator.
The ACCC recommended the Government underwrite investment in new “low-cost” power, but warned that trying to pick winners with particular technologies was driving up power bills.
State governments would be forced to directly fund solar feed-in-tariff schemes, instead of forcing the network — and eventually all customers — to pay for subsidies.
As of July 1 in Victoria, there are two types of governmentmandated feed-in tariffs — a flat, minimum rate of 9.9c per kilowatt hour in subsidies for excess solar energy, or a timevarying rate between 7c and 29c per kilowatt hour.
Households that do not have solar are paying on average $106 a year to foot the bill.
The “small-scale renewable energy scheme”, which has been in place since 2010 and compensates households and businesses for purchasing solar, wind and hydro systems, should be phased out, saving non-solar customers up to $90 a year.
The review found environmental schemes were adding a total of $93 a year to household power bills in Victoria.
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio didn’t rule out changing solar schemes being subsidised by non-solar customers. She said the proposed “basic service offer” recommended by the government- commissioned energy market review was still under consideration.