*** Submissions have now closed ***

Have your say on the new draft feed-in tariffs for Victoria

The Victorian energy and pricing regulator is seeking submissions on their new draft feed-in tariffs, including a peak period tariff of 29c/kWh for rooftop solar exports back into the grid.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) has proposed setting two different solar feed-in tariffs (FiTs) from 1st July 2018, of which retailers must offer at least one:

• a single rate feed-in tariff of 9.9c/kWh at all times, and/or
• a time-varying feed-in tariff, see table below:

Time-varying minimum feed-in tariff -- draft tariff rates:

The introduction of a peak tariff for rooftop solar is a huge development, given that all solar tariffs up till now have been structured on a flat rate. It could change the way consumers think about their solar assets, and encourage battery storage. This article provides further analysis on the proposed changes.

Can you make a submission to the ESC? Here are some points you may wish to consider:

• The ESC expects that the offering of a “time-of-use” solar tariff will become compulsory over time, but there will be a transition period where retailers can offer a “single rate” FiT.
• The single rate tariff is well below the 11.3c/kWh tariff currently in place and even lower than the 'shoulder' rate offered on the time-varying FiT. If left to retailers to decide, will they end up only offering the single rate tariff with decreased benefit to solar owners?
• You may wish to include any personal examples about your solar systems and experiences with feed-in tariffs.