Media Release: PREMIUM RATE TO SOLAR-POWERED VICTORIAN HOUSEHOLDS

FROM THE MINISTER FOR ENERGY AND RESOURCES

DATE: Wednesday, May 7, 2008

PREMIUM RATE TO SOLAR-POWERED VICTORIAN HOUSEHOLDS

Victorian households with solar power systems will be paid a premium rate for excess electricity that they feed into the state grid under a new scheme announced by the Brumby Government.

Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor said the new Feed-in Tariff Scheme was aimed at increasing the number of private households in Victoria generating renewable energy.

“Through the new premium Feed-in Tariff Scheme, households will be paid 60 cents for every unused kilowatt hour of power fed back into the state electricity grid, which is almost four times the current retail price for electricity and the highest feed-in tariff offered in Australia,” Mr Batchelor said.

“The system will encourage more households to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and encourage solar-powered households to be energy efficient and maximise the amount of power fed into the state’s electricity grid for other customers to use.”

Mr Batchelor said the premium feed-in tariff scheme would be introduced in 2009 and would run for 15 years.

The scheme would apply to all household systems of up to two kilowatts capacity and have a cap of 100MW of generating capacity.

“Currently less than 3000 Victorian households have solar panel systems installed and about half of those are connected to the state’s electricity grid,” Mr Batchelor said.

“This premium tariff means that the average Victorian household taking up the Federal Government’s solar panel rebate could pay off the cost of installation in less than 10 years.

“This new scheme delivers on a 2006 election promise and will ensure Victoria continues to lead Australia on renewable energy initiatives.”

Mr Peter Batchelor said the new scheme would be administered by the electricity distributors to keep costs down and to ensure that it did not interfere with retail competition.

“This scheme is part of a strategic approach by the Brumby Government to provide affordable, sustainable energy for Victoria’s future,” Mr Batchelor said.

“The premium net feed-in tariff scheme, coupled with the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) scheme, which will be introduced from January next year, will empower Victorian households to take action on climate change.