Poorer Western Australians will lose out from Abbott’s solar turnoff – Senator Scott Ludlam
WA Greens senator says Abbott solar turn-off will hit battlers hardest, WA Today July 13, 2015 Ray Sparvell Reporter WA battlers will be hardest hit by the Abbott government’s decision to wind back investment into home solar, according to Greens Senator Scott Ludlam.
He said the state’s solar-driven homes were now producing as much electricity as two conventional coal-fueled power stations.
And he believes it is too soon for the Abbott Government to pull the plug on investments into the solar industry. “Retirees, people on lower incomes and people in outer metro and rural areas of the state will be hardest hit by this.
The federal government has recently directed the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to exclude household and small scale solar from further investment funding. Senator Ludlam said the government still needed to support the solar industry.
Some 180,000 WA households have installed rooftop solars and Senator Ludlam said they were now generating the equivalent of two typical coal fire power stations. “Solar powered WA homes have increased 19 per cent in just one year – overwhelmingly in outer suburbs and households with lower incomes,” he said.
WA now has four postcodes in Australia’s top 20 solar suburbs including Mandurah at number two, North east Wanneroo at eight, Canning Vale/Willeton at 12 and Cockburn at 19.
Home owners benefit from trading in small scale technology certificates at the time of installation and feed-in tariffs (selling power back into the grid). “Householders are streaking ahead of the state and federal government as they use rooftop solar to dramatically reduce their power bills, but Tony Abbott’s crusade against renewable energy is set to have a devastating effect.
“………….WA homeowners, however, may soon be able to sidestep the beef the federal government has in funding renewable energy initiatives like solar. One of the country’s biggest energy providers has come up with a solution that avoids an upfront investment of thousands of dollars. Origin Energy is now rolling out a program in the eastern states where home and business owners simply lease the installed equipment – and then benefit from their electricity savings.
The company secured a 12-year, $100 million finance commitment from the CEFC to further develop rooftop solar offerings for Australian consumers – days before the federal government announced its wind back of investment support for solar.
An Origin spokeswoman said government finance would be used to support a new approach helping home and business owners go solar.
“Our approach allows them to access the benefits of solar without having to purchase the system. The customers pay for the solar power generated on their roofs, while Origin owns, maintains, monitors and services the systems over seven, 10 or 15 years.”
The spokeswoman said they hoped to rollout home battery solutions later in the year.
Solar battery storage solutions would help home and business owners store generated solar power to ensure that it was available 24/7. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/wa-greens-senator-says-abbott-solar-turnoff-will-hit-battlers-hardest-20150713-gibax6.html#ixzz3fuplaHxF
Antinuclear 
RE: The customers pay for the solar power generated on their roofs, while Origin owns, maintains, monitors and services the systems over seven, 10 or 15 years.”
This is just shifting ratepayers from having to pay their Big Utility to having to pay Origin…
Ratepayer owned Solar offers them a pathway toward Energy Freedom (no more Utility bills) once they pay off their Solar systems!
+
It would be interesting to find out if Origin helped finance the Abbott government’s Solar decision, since that put Origin in the right place at the right time…
LikeLike