Page 3664 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
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climate crisis. I am pleased to contribute to this matter of public importance, and I hope to see all members of this place at tomorrow’s strike.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (3.29): I am very pleased to speak on Mr Gupta’s MPI on the importance of moving to 100 per cent renewable electricity in the ACT. As members have heard me talk about before in this place, this has been a very successful policy for this territory both environmentally and economically. This stems from a decision we took back in 2010 to legislate a 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the territory. In setting ourselves that ambitious goal we were necessarily forced to think about what policy measures would get us there, and as we come up to 2020 we are right on the doorstep of achieving that 100 per cent renewable electricity target and the 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Those environmental benefits have been achieved in a cost-effective way for Canberrans. When the government first modelled this proposal it suggested it would cost ACT households $5.20 per week. The modelling has come down and our best estimate at the moment is a maximum of $4.90. I was interested to read in yesterday’s Canberra Times in an article by Simon Holmes a Court that he thinks the impost currently sits at less than $1 a week largely because the level of subsidy required for renewables has plummeted in recent years and because of the careful mechanism built into the contracts for difference which means that when electricity prices are high ACT consumers are protected.
A great example of that is during a week of high temperatures in 2017 three of our large-scale solar farms in the ACT returned almost $1 million to ACT electricity users as an offset against future energy prices. That is an example of how this has made sense environmentally and economically.
When it comes to the economic impact we also know that the contracts will lead to at least $500 million dollars of economic investment and benefit to the ACT over a 20-year period. If anything, I think that is a conservative estimate. By the ACT becoming recognised as a hub of renewable energy excellence a range of other opportunities are arising. People are coming to work here and are seeking to partner with the ACT because of the recognition of the intellectual capability, research and innovation in the territory.
The 100 per cent target has been a very successful policy both for the ACT and for the environment. I look forward to being able to further report on it as more data becomes available. I would be pleased to provide members with insights as to the various sources of data that tell the story of the impact of the 100 per cent renewable electricity target.
I was pleased to see the report from the Australia Institute yesterday which identified the ACT as the first jurisdiction outside of Europe to achieve this goal. That was a really interesting piece of research that highlighted what can be done when you have the political will to take the bold decisions and go forth and get stuck into it.
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