Antinuclear

Politicians against renewable energy are losing in USA, but perhaps not in Australia?

In Australia, a similar battle is about to be waged. The difference here is that renewable energy targets are a federal policy mechanism, but the four mainland conservative state governments (Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia) are lined up firmly against them, and the new energy minister in WA, Mike Nahan, has upped the ante – possibly in anticipation of the Coalition winning the federal poll in September.

Are renewables doomed to failure in Australia?, REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson   3 May 2013 Across the United States right now, a pitched battle is being fought over the future of renewable energy targets in the 29 states that have them. Already, 16 of these states are considering legislation – templated by a fossil fuel-sponsored lobby group, the American Legislative Exchange Council – to repeal or dilute the ambition of renewable standards.

So far, the campaign – boosted by Tea Party radicals in the Republican movement – has not been successful. In the past week, North Carolina rejected the idea after leading utilities such as Duke Energy, and big data centre operators such as Apple and Google expressed their support for wind and solar projects.

In Colorado, the ALEC bill met a similar fate, with the state deciding instead to lift its clean energy standard for rural electric cooperatives to 25 per cent by 2020 — a 15 percentage point jump from the current 10 per cent.

Still, the fate of other state-based RPS schemes remains in the balance. ALEC task force director Todd Wynn recently told Bloomberg that 2013 will be the most active year yet in efforts to repeal renewable energy standards. “Natural gas is a clean fuel, and regulators and policy makers are seeing how it’s much more affordable than renewable energy.”

In Australia, a similar battle is about to be waged. The difference here is that renewable energy targets are a federal policy mechanism, but the four mainland conservative state governments (Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Western Australia) are lined up firmly against them, and the new energy minister in WA, Mike Nahan, has upped the ante – possibly in anticipation of the Coalition winning the federal poll in September.

The Coalition has already indicated that it will seek yet another review of the RET, and will be sympathetic to claims by utilities that lower than expected electricity demand should cause less wind and solar farms to be built. Some utilities want the numbers cut in half – and they have the support of broader industry groups such as the Business Council of Australia and other industry groups, and of the conservative state governments……..

The Australian renewables industry will recognise the dangers of such talk. WA, ironically, is probably the best placed state for added renewable energy investments because of its high electricity prices, and excellent solar and wind resources. The Collgar wind farm in the wheat belt operates at near 50 per cent capacity, and numerous solar plants – without subsidies beyond the RET – are being considered by developers.

The problem, in WA and elsewhere around the country, is that new projects are at a virtual standstill. Financiers have basically shut up shop pending the result of an election, and the likelihood of yet another RET review. This is despite the conclusion by the Australian Energy Market Operator that even going 100% renewables may not entail much greater cost than the air-con inspired super-sizing of the grid this past five or six years….. .http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/are-renewables-doomed-to-failure-in-australia-47501

May 3, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics