Solar households slugged for sunlight in cost of living 'rip off'
Energy retailers have started charging households for sunlight with a tariff for feeding their clean, cheap rooftop solar energy into the grid during peak hours during the day.
Ausgrid and several other energy companies introduced the two-way tariff for residential solar customers in NSW from July this year. The two-way tariff will be rolled out in Queensland in 2025.
Solar Citizens CEO Heidi Lee Douglas said, “In a cost of living crisis, with so many people struggling with electricity prices, it is not a bright idea to penalise people for taking control of their power bills with cheaper, cleaner solar.
“People in NSW were absolutely furious, and Queenslanders will be livid when they find out more about the big tariff rip-off planned for households with solar panels.
“Energy companies want to charge people with solar panels to make energy from sunlight, and that’s simply not fair.
“The new two-way tariff is a blunt instrument that changes people with solar panels for feeding their energy into the grid during the day, rather than supporting them to store their energy or feed it back into the grid at another time.
“Rather than stick people with penalties for not having batteries they can't afford in a cost of living crisis, households need more support to access the benefits of solar and battery storage.
“One of the biggest impacts of the two-way tariff is the message it sends to households thinking about investing in rooftop solar - that they are now being discouraged from doing so.
"It’s madness to charge people for sunlight when what we really need to do in a cost of living crisis is accelerate the rate of rooftop solar installations by providing access to solar for the Queenslanders who have so far missed out - like renters, social housing, and apartments.
“We must stay focussed on empowering more Queenslanders to access the benefits of cheap, clean rooftop solar energy and a new charge on sunlight is a move in the wrong direction.”
“The Queensland Government extended Battery Booster program will see around 3,000 Queensland households receive battery rebates. It was a great initial investment in household energy storage, however the program closed applications in May.
“Now we need more Queensland state government support for affordable storage solutions so solar households can use energy from the sun when they need it most. Or export it back to the grid when they receive the greatest return.
“Solar Citizens supports a target of 1 million home storage batteries across Australia by 2030 and it would make sense for the majority of those to be in Queensland, a world-leader in rooftop solar uptake," Ms Douglas said.
