Download web_letter_qld

TO: <your local MP name>
<address>
CC: The Honourable Anna Bligh
PO Box 15185
CITY EAST
Queensland 4002
Hon. Geoff Wilson
PO Box 114
ARANA HILLS
Queensland 4054
<Date>
RE: Feed-in Tariffs for renewable energy generation
Dear <local member’s name>,
I believe that a move toward renewable energy is an essential means of addressing climate change, and
solar photovoltaic (PV) micro-generation has an important role to play. To that end, I welcome the
Queensland state government’s commitment to consider a feed-in tariff for solar electricity generated on
rooftops and fed into the electricity grid, however I wish to express my concern with the uncertainty
surrounding the design of the scheme.
Upon announcing the scheme in Parliament, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said year “the Solar Bonus
Scheme will pay households and businesses 44c for every kilowatt hour generated from solar power
systems at work and at home and then fed into the grid”. I believed this to mean that the scheme would be
paid on the total production from PV systems, as in the case of all the 45+ schemes internationally.
However, since then there have been a number of mixed messages from both the Premier and the Minister
for Mines and Energy, Geoff Wilson. This has culminated with the information published by the Department
of Mines and Energy (DME) on their website indicating that the feed-in tariff would be paid on the excess
electricity generated and fed into the grid, after in-home consumption.
This is a very different scheme to that proposed by the Premier with widely different results and implications
to grid-connected solar PV system proponents. The scheme as it is now being proposed by DME, based on
import/export metering, has significant flaws and drawbacks when compared with a feed-in tariff mechanism
based on gross production metering.
Import/export metering significantly discriminates against both owners of smaller grid-connected systems
and those who are more likely to consume electricity during the day, such as senior citizens or stay-at-home
parents. In cases such as these, where instantaneous system production rarely exceeds household
consumption, system owners rarely exporting electricity to the grid would not be able to receive the benefit
for premium feed-in rates offered, and thus would gain very little financial return on their investment.
Further, any return on investment is greatly uncertain as it depends on both the generation of the system and
the in-home habits, which change over time. And a system of net export metering creates significant
uncertainty in the market, both in terms of potential financial return from the feed-in tariffs for the system
owner, and in the cost of the system for the government and wider community.
For a feed-in tariff to create a guaranteed level of take-up, it is essential that it is paid at an adequate rate, for
a long enough time, and on the total production of the solar system. I call on the government to mandate a
feed-in tariff at 60 cents per kWh for at least 15 years; and, most importantly, paid on the entire output of a
system via gross production metering.
A feed-in tariff set at this level will provide the necessary incentive for individuals to invest their personal
finances into solar PV systems, safe in the knowledge that the price paid for electricity generated will
adequately pay back this investment over the next 15 years.
Feed-in tariffs have been remarkably successful in over 40 countries internationally, and an adequate feed-in
tariff in Queensland has the potential to build an industry in sustainable solutions to climate change, provide
an alternative to polluting coal, and position the state as a leader in renewable energy in Australia.
Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing Queensland. I trust that you, as my elected
representative and Ministers, take this issue seriously and ensure that this policy measure delivers a major
expansion of renewable energy leading to real reductions in greenhouse gas pollution.
I ask for clarification from you on what you believe is the intended metering and billing to be used in the
Queensland feed-in tariff scheme, and urge you to only support the Queensland Solar Bonus Scheme if it is
paid on the gross production from solar PV systems. Failure to do this will result in a second-class feed-in
tariff scheme which will achieve few of the potential benefits such schemes have realised internationally.
Yours sincerely,
< Insert your name here>