Anger mounts as sun sets on LNP Government’s 8¢ solar rebate scheme OUR READERS THE COURIER-MAIL MARCH 08, 2014 12:00AM ”Next time your neighbour with the roof full of solar panels crows about the money he or she has “made free from the sun”, just remind them who has actually paid for them. I AM angry at the Newman Government’s announcement that it will axe the 8c solar rebate while leaving the 44c rebate intact. The spin is that this will save $110 million and make electricity cheaper. If that is the case, cutting the 44c will save $605 million. Why not legislate to cut the 44c? Bea Duffield, Ashgrove I AM disappointed in the State Government’s decision to slash the 8 cent feed-in tariff (C-M, Mar 6), putting 40,000 Queensland families on the tariff and the future of solar in Queensland in the hands of big energy companies. I want the Government to ensure a fair price for the power solar households generate in the state. Retailers should not be allowed to set their own tariffs. There should be mandatory feed-in tariff premiums in Queensland. The evidence in NSW shows that deregulated feed-in tariffs reduce choice for consumers and competition between retailers, leaving consumers at the mercy of electricity retailers. Let’s keep our reputation as the Sunshine State by ensuring that solar owners are provided a fair return for the energy they provide to the grid. Gail Pollard, Daisy Hill Queensland Government to axe 8c-per-kWh solar feed-in tariff Panels prompt fears of solar slum NEXT time your neighbour with the roof full of solar panels crows about the money he or she has “made free from the sun”, just remind them who has actually paid for them. Ask them who paid for the electricity they used during peak domestic time and kept their fridges running all night. It wasn’t the free power from the sun. If these solar panel households want to save the planet and live free from the sun, they should be made to use stand-alone batteries. Then they would have a better appreciation of what it means to rely on the sun for power. I have no beef about them getting back their capital investment over time in the usual commercial way by depreciation against their tax. But I do object to subsidising them when I buy coal-powered electricity at 26c per kW/h when the sun shines and they receive 44c per kW/h. Pay them what it is worth, don’t rip off their neighbours to pay for it
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 09:13:23 +0000