Qld govt urged to rule out solar feed-in charges

Qld govt urged to rule out solar feed-in charges

The Queensland authorities is being urged to rule out charging householders for feeding electrical energy from rooftop photo voltaic panels again into the grid.

The Solar Citizens group says rooftop photo voltaic is among the few issues placing downward stress on electrical energy costs, with coal and gasoline costs so excessive.

Regional Queensland householders could possibly be paid extra for the photo voltaic vitality they feed into the grid from July, beneath a proposal from the state regulator.

However, within the southeast tariffs are set by retailers, with Solar Citizens saying that in lots of instances they pay householders “a pittance”.

Solar Citizens deputy director Stephanie Gray says the state authorities should rule out charging householders for promoting photo voltaic again to the Sunshine State’s grid, which is into account elsewhere.

“The last thing that we want to see is for the Queensland government to allow solar export charging like we’re seeing being proposed right now in NSW,” she stated in an announcement on Thursday.

“In NSW network companies have proposals sitting with the Australian Energy Regulator to charge solar owners for putting cheap solar energy into the grid during the middle of the day.

“It’s an outrageous solar tax and we’re calling on the state authorities to rule it out for Queensland.”

The Queensland Competition Authority is set to allow retailers outside the southeast to lift household electricity bills by $432 to $1928 and business bills by $215 to $2334 in 2022/23.

However, the regulator is mulling raising the feed-in tariff, the amount paid to regional homeowners with solar panels by state-owned Ergon Energy, from 9.3 cents to 12.95 cents per kilowatt hour.

The Australian Energy Regulator is also considering allowing electricity retailers in the southeast to hike annual residential power bills by $321 to $1941 and small business bills by $669 to $4115 from next financial year.

The regulator’s draft determination would also allow retailers to hike bills by $383 to $2344 for households in the region, with separate meters for appliances such as hot water storage systems.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said households and small businesses will be given rebates on their electricity bills in the upcoming state budget.

The rebates shall be decided by federal help and the regulator’s last dedication in May, however she has promised that they are going to be larger than the $175 provided within the present monetary 12 months.

Source: www.perthnow.com.au