Page 1110 - Week 03 - Thursday, 26 February 2009
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When we look around the world, it is easy to see the effectiveness of residential feed-in schemes. Germany has led the way with possibly the most successful feed-in tariff laws in the world. In 1991 the German government introduced the electricity feed act, creating their scheme. The scheme was expanded and enhanced in the year 2000 and, as a result, Germany has seen dramatic growth in the renewable energy market.
Most importantly, the solar photovoltaic industry has thrived. From 2000 to 2005 the quantity of electricity fed into the grid from eligible sources in Germany more than doubled. By comparison, Australia has less than 0.5 per cent of Germany’s capacity. Australia is lagging behind Germany and other countries, including Spain and Japan, which have half the sunshine of Australia yet have 200 times the solar production capacity of our country.
Australia not only has sunshine, but we have world-class scientists, many based at universities in Canberra, who are producing cutting edge solar technology. We need to utilise this for the good of the environment and the nation. This bill seeks to encourage Canberra families to utilise this technology by installing renewable energy generators in their homes by offering a premium rate for any electricity they feed into the grid.
Initiatives that encourage families to be more environmentally aware should be applauded. However, we are concerned that one of the ongoing issues is the issue of a national approach. Currently, each state and territory has their own scheme or is in the planning stages and each state and territory appears to be different. Victoria sets their limit at two kilowatts and Queensland and South Australia at 10 kilowatts. There is a mixture of gross and net schemes. Program durations vary from between two to nine years in Western Australia to 15 years in Victoria and 20 years in South Australia, Queensland and here in the ACT. The premium rate is also different in every state.
How will the ACT’s scheme fit with these other systems? On 29 November 2008 the Council of Australian Governments released the national principles for feed-in tariff schemes. The principles include that any measuring is transitional and in particular notes that the national emissions trading scheme will provide increasing support for low emissions technology. As we see these national issues play out we will need to be responsive to how our local schemes fit in with that overall national approach.
That said, we do support the bill, but we also have some amendments seeking to add further clarification to aspects of the legislation. They are designed to work with the government’s amendments. The government seeks to include a new section allowing the minister to determine the normal cost of electricity. The government is also proposing that the minister may establish guidelines as to how this cost is determined.
We will support these changes, and our proposal is to set a requirement for the minister to consult with the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission. The ICRC is the organisation best placed to provide relevant information on pricing. With the minister responsible for determining the premium rate, we believe that ICRC advice should be taken into consideration. This information should also be made
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