Page 3621 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
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I am pleased to present this bill today. The ACT government is on track to deliver the legislated 100 per cent renewable electricity target in 2020, with the majority of renewable electricity delivered through deeds of entitlement with 10 renewable electricity generators which provide the ACT with the renewable electricity certificates produced on 20-year terms.
The Assembly recently passed the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Renewable Electricity Target) Amendment Bill 2019, which legislated an ongoing 100 per cent renewable electricity target post 2020, ensuring that the ACT will maintain delivery of 100 per cent renewable electricity in perpetuity.
Additionally, the renewable electricity delivered under these deeds is critical for the ACT’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of net zero emissions by 2045, as well as the interim targets for 2020 and onwards. Once the ACT reaches 100 per cent renewable electricity, our future greenhouse gas reduction targets will require a decarbonisation of natural gas and transport fuel consumption.
The ACT government is preparing for forecasts that a significant portion of this decarbonisation effort will take place through change to electric alternatives, such as reverse-cycle heaters, electric vehicles and electric or induction cooktops, which will lead to increases in electricity demand. The ACT’s population also continues to grow quickly.
In order to deliver on the ongoing renewable electricity target and maintain zero emissions for electricity, the ACT government has announced a new renewable electricity auction to procure more renewable electricity supply as required to deliver on the legislated targets.
It is important to note that this bill, and any instrument increasing the limit on capacity, will have no direct impact on electricity bills. The ACT continues to have among the cheapest electricity prices in Australia while leading the world in climate change response. I expect that, even with the extra renewable electricity it intends to purchase to maintain the 100 per cent target on an ongoing basis, this will still cost less than $4.90 per household per week, coming in cheaper than initially forecast.
The Electricity Feed-in (Large-scale Renewable Energy Generation) Act 2011 currently imposes a 650-megawatt limit on the capacity of generating systems in relation to which feed-in tariff entitlements may be held. This capacity limit has allowed the ACT government to sign deeds of entitlement to deliver on the target of 100 per cent electricity by 2020 but provides a roadblock to procuring more capacity, which will be required to support the recently announced auction. The ongoing target may require a series of auctions in future years and decades, if electricity consumption continues to grow.
The bill will provide a long-term solution to a long-term problem. By legislating to allow increases to the maximum capacity via disallowable instrument, the bill will allow the ACT government to deliver 100 per cent renewable electricity in perpetuity, in line with the target legislated by the Assembly.
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