The Newman Government has axed the 8 cent feed-in tariff, and as of July, 40,000 solar homes, and all future solar owners in Queensland, will have to negotiate directly with retailers to receive any return for the energy they provide into the grid.
In our recent meeting with Energy Minister Mark McArdle, he stated that because of high uptake of solar, retailers will have to offer a fair price for solar, as they will be be uncompetitive if they don’t. But, our experience with NSW, where families are receiving very small feed-in tariffs after negotiating with retailers, proves this otherwise. When pressed, Minister McArdle had no clear response as to how the Newman Government would guarantee that a fair price would be provided by retailers.
Although Minister McArdle had no answers on dealing with retailers, thanks to suggestions from many of you, we have a few options. We could continue to fight for fair legislated feed-in tariffs, or we could look into the option of bringing thousands of solar owners together to use our market power and negotiate a good deal with the energy retailers. Both options will use time and energy, so we'd like your thoughts on what the best use of our campaign resources. Let us know what you think below!
Showing 370 reactions
A: Yes.
A: Yes.
A: Maybe.
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A: No.
A: Yes.
A: Maybe.
A: Maybe.
A: No.
A: This is a real power struggle. Every house and business should have solar power which means the demise of the power generation companies. They are fighting a rear guard action. As more people put in solar power the supply of coal power becomes uneconomic and/or too expensive. Unfortunately govt are siding with the power companies at this stage. We need to convince them that solar is more democratic and gives us some influence over our lives.
A: This is a real power struggle. Every house and business should have solar power which means the demise of the power generation companies. They are fighting a rear guard action. As more people put in solar power the supply of coal power becomes uneconomic and/or too expensive. Unfortunately govt are siding with the power companies at this stage. We need to convince them that solar is more democratic and gives us some influence over our lives.
A: Yes.
A: No.
A: It seems strange to axe the 8c FIT but not go after the 44c FIT. Surely the 44c FIT is a much bigger burden on the electricity price and it would’ve been better to reduce this slightly (down to 36c) rather than completely axe the 8c FIT and therefore remove one of the biggest incentives to continuing to go solar. Makes no sense to me, but then, government decisions usually don’t make sense at the best of times.
A: Yes.
A: Legislation which is the other path, is cumbersome, very time consuming, need a sponsor in Parliament, and Minister McArdle isn’t the answer there, and then legislation if enacted, requires policing, penalties for infringements and reporting on adherence. I cannot see the Newman government giving this method one iota of support. So I vote for using our market power to get a better deal direct with the retailers.
A: Yes.
A: Yes.
A: We shouldn’t waste time on government until we’ve seen what a large group of us can achieve in getting the suppliers to pay av reasonable amount for the electricity we produce. Also, soon batteries will be cheap enough to allow us to go off grid, especially with bulk-buying power.
A: My only concern is that the Government does not govern in the best interests of the people.
When will the Government ever disclose who is their real master ?
A: No.
A: Maybe.
A: I would be happy to part of a strike action, by turning off my PV for 24 hours to let the electricity companies realise who is providing their electricity these days
A: LNP (state and federal counterparts) are, under current leaders, driven entirely by ideology. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they sincerely believe competition between private companies will always give the best deal for consumers. They even seem to hold this belief in areas like electricity distribution where there IS no competition.
Knowing that the LNP and, for the most part, also the ALP, routinely ignore evidence when formulating policy, the best course of action for progress is direct. Ultimately, what will strike the best deal for consumers will be the threats of collective ownership of energy resources and grid independence.
For inspiration, I suggest these for starters:
http://www.transitiontownbrixton.org/category/projects/brixton-energy/
http://neweracolorado.org/2013/11/05/we-won/#.U0OWWBDYEd4
A: Maybe.
A: Yes.
A: The questions you are putting up are not the right questions.
The logical way to drive investment in rooftop solar are "contracts to supply’. (The old FIT contracts are an example of this approach.) What is needed is a market based system that sets the price for new contracts. A market based system can be set up so that investors in rooftop solar get a fair return on their investment while other consumers don’t have to pay more than necessary for the power they buy.
A logical way for this market system work is for the government to auction contracts to supply periodically with people (or installers) bidding for these contracts using a system of automatic bidding. (Automatic works by the bidder making an initial FIT bid and setting the minimum FIT they are willing to accept. The automatic bidding process steps the bids down until the number of bidders left matches the the contracts available.)
A: Yes.
A: The best course of action would be for individuals to disconnect from the grid altogether. Although this may take some time, it will be the path which I am certain many will follow given the opportunity. Bulk buying of storage and management systems to bring the price down should be investigated for the longer term. If renewable energy producers started voting with their feet and disconnecting from the grid, reluctant power companies would be forced to change their reluctant and renewable stifling practices.