Solar Citizens is deeply concerned by the findings of Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) that households with rooftop solar are being charged at highly variable rates between retailers, with some being charged more than 50% more than others for feed-in tariffs.
The findings are in the QCA Solar Feed-in Tariffs in South-East Queensland report for the June quarter published in October, reported in the Courier Mail today.
“Queensland has the highest per capita incidence of rooftop solar in the world, but many households are still locked out from the benefits. To encourage greater rooftop solar uptake, households need to have confidence that they will receive a fair return from their investment, and won’t be given a dud deal from their electricity company.” said Philippa England, Queensland Clean Energy Campaigner at Solar Citizens.
“It’s one thing to encourage households to shop around for a better deal, which I definitely do, but we also need to make sure that energy retailers aren’t able to overcomplicate their billing to make it hard for households to compare.
“The Australian energy market is not set up to encourage household energy such as rooftop solar, as it is designed to support large-scale generation like the coal-fired stations of the past. Our energy future is more dynamic and has households at its core, so our energy market needs to be updated to reflect that.
“That’s why our energy markets need to be reformed to put households front and centre, through the establishment of a Consumer Energy Resources Authority.”
Media Contacts:
Carolin Wenzel, Media Advisor 0417 668 957
About Solar Citizens
Solar Citizens is an independent, community-based organisation working to protect and grow renewable energy and clean transport in Australia. Our website is https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/