Page 2576 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
payments of the tariffs to owners of renewable energy generators are essentially repayments of capital investment, it is the view of the government that the owners of the renewable energy electricity generators will not be adversely affected as to when they receive the payments. It is considered that allowing retailers some flexibility in how they undertake this, which is likely to include offsetting against energy bills, perhaps, will help to minimise the regulatory impact of the legislation.
The government will not be supporting the amendment requiring that the distributor must not sell the electricity supply to the network as part of the GreenPower program on the grounds that it is not necessary to exclude GreenPower by ACT legislation. It is also not possible as GreenPower products must—I repeat must—be accredited under the national GreenPower program.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.52): I thank Dr Foskey for raising these issues, especially the issue in relation to GreenPower. This was a considerable concern for people who raised with me the extent to which the feed-in tariff legislation might, in fact, undermine the GreenPower provisions. I think it is a very important issue, and it is an issue that we have to be very vigilant about.
However, I am not prepared to support Dr Foskey’s amendments at this stage. I take the advice in relation to the national energy rules and how they apply. In saying that, I do say that we do have to be very vigilant, and the Liberal opposition will be watching very closely the interaction between the feed-in tariff and GreenPower. If it turns out that feed-in tariff electricity suddenly gets accreditation under GreenPower, I think we will be revisiting this.
While I am not prepared to change the structure of the legislation at this stage, it is something that we will be watching very closely. It is something that members of the community are very concerned about. A lot of people who are interested in this as a proposition are also contributing to GreenPower and they are concerned about the fact that, as Dr Foskey said, we might end up paying for this renewable energy twice through both schemes. It is something that we need to be very vigilant about in the process of finalising the regulations. We will be looking at this very closely and if, after the operation of the bill, we see any undermining of the GreenPower scheme, we will be back in here to legislate against it.
Amendments negatived.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (11.55): I seek leave to move amendments Nos 2 and 3 circulated in my name together.
Leave granted.
MR GENTLEMAN: I move amendments Nos 2 and 3 circulated in my name together [see schedule 1 at page 2651].
Amendment No 2 changes the heading to part 2 of the bill—a simple change—to better explain that the emphasis is on our electricity network.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .