Moreland Energy Foundation

In transition to the new Transitional Feed-in Tariff

As mentioned in our previous MEFL Blog post, the 60 c/kWh Premium Feed-in Tariff (PFiT) was effectively closed at the end of September. As a result, all new solar PV systems connected to the grid after 30 September 2011 won’t be able to get the 60 c/kWh available under the PFiT, but will instead be in a state of transition before the new ‘Transitional Feed-in Tariff’ (TFiT) comes into effect next year.

The most worrying aspect of Julia Gillard's announcement last week of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in funding cuts for climate change policies and programs is not the loss of the programs themselves. Greg Combet has since said that the programs targeted for cuts are ineffective. Even if this is true, it would not justify removing funding from climate change initiatives completely. Instead, the funding should be reallocated to programs that are effective.

Apart from the clear paradox of taking money away from climate change programs to fund recovery from extreme weather events of the very kind that are predicted to increase in frequency with climate change, our worry is that these cuts may reveal an attitude within the Gillard Government that carbon pricing is the silver bullet, and complementary climate change policies are unnecessary.

This week, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet announced that the Green Start program had been discontinued (see media release).

The Green Start program was intended to be the successor to the Green Loans program.  Round One of the Green Start program would have involved accredited assessors being funded to undertake energy assessments of households to identify ways for the household to reduce their energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.  Round Two was intended to provide funding for organisations to provide practical help to low income and disadvantaged Australian households to implement energy efficiency measures.

MEFL understands that this program has been discontinued due to concerns that the data collected from assessments undertaken under the Green Loans program was not high quality, and that given these concerns, Green Start may not be effective.  However, we are calling on the Government to clarify how it will support low income households in light of this decision, and to explain how the more than $100 million in funding for the program will be reallocated.

Energy efficiency measures can reduce energy use and result in long-lasting reductions in energy bills, but for low income households, even relatively low cost measures may be out of reach. With a carbon price on the horizon, these households need government support, including financial assistance.

For further information, see our media release.  Also see the Alternative Technology Association's media release.

In 2007 The Victorian Government asked for submissions on its Victorian Energy Efficiency Target (VEET) Scheme.

The VEET scheme will be a market based scheme aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy conservation for the residential sector. The aim of the scheme is to contribute to the fulfillment of the ALP's 2006 election promise to reduce electricity use in the residential sector by 10%.

It will be similar to the VRET scheme introduced by the Government to increase renewable energy. The scheme will place an obligation on energy retailers to meet specific energy conservation targets. Energy retailers will be required to help households cut their power bills through such measures as the provision of energy efficiency appliances and products for little or no additional cost.

Download MEFL's submission.