Antinuclear

The state’s biggest electricity utilities recently blamed price hikes of up to 18.1 per cent on the demand to buy green credits. Attempting to justify why electricity prices needed to rise by that much, the energy retailers said they would be required to pay $40 for every solar certificate issued to customers.

Instead, they are only paying $19 market rates for those certificates, virtually pocketing the difference, about $50 per family.

Fluctuations in the green credit market have pushed prices from the government standard $40 to just $19. Energy retail wholesalers are buying up green credits, obtained through rooftop solar panels and energy-efficient hot water systems, directly from solar installers, electricians and plumbers at lower rates.

Climate Change opposition spokesman Greg Hunt has called for a national solar summit to fix the solar industry “chaos” and blamed Labor’s energy policies for mammoth bill increases.

“It’s resulted in higher electricity prices and Labor is doing nothing to help people with their skyrocketing power bills or small solar businesses who’ve been caught out by this scheme and are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Mr Hunt said. A spokesman for Minister Greg Combet said he would not use his legislative powers to change the $40 price…..http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/a-mean-green-power-scheme/story-e6freuzi-1226114799464