Page 1117 - Week 03 - Thursday, 26 February 2009
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A real and valid concern in relation to the original bill is that without a limit on installations there is no guarantee that the scheme will not overheat, with the result that ACT electricity consumers end up with an unintended and high impost on their bills. While it is unlikely that this would happen in the first year of operation, and there are many levers in the legislation that the minister can use to either speed up or slow down the rate of investment, for a jurisdiction as small as the ACT it is a potential difficulty that we acknowledge.
It is for these reasons that the Greens support the concept of an annual scheme cap for medium to large installations. Such a proposal has the advantage of providing government with certainty about cost to consumers and will give a clear signal to industry about the investment opportunities while driving forward the development of renewable energy in the ACT in a sustainable fashion. The cost of an annual cap of 10 megawatts, for example, on the average household bill would be approximately $35 a year. That is around 67c a day. At this price it would be hard for the government to justify not supporting such a scheme cap.
We acknowledge that placing a cap on the scheme is not the optimal model for industry development using a feed-in tariff. It is not something that we would support if a feed-in tariff were implemented nationally. But given the ACT’s unique circumstances—a small jurisdiction offering favourable investment opportunities—it is prudent policy. The Greens would prefer to see the ACT’s renewable energy generation capacity developed in a sustainable fashion, scaled up with an eye to long-term viability.
Given the minister’s commitment to announcing measures for medium to large installations in June this year, I am a little perplexed as to why the government has in this bill added a clause that seeks to limit the application of the act to installations under 30 kilowatts. I will come back to this later when we speak about the amendments.
Today the Greens are pleased that, as of 1 March, as a result of the ALP-Greens agreement, householders, retailers, small businesses, schools and universities across the ACT will be able to install clean, renewable energy and be paid an incentive to do so. This is a major step forward. It is an exciting time for renewable energy in the ACT and we look forward to not only seeing decentralised clean energy spring up around this territory but also kick-starting a vibrant new jobs sector.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (4.14), in reply: I thank members for their contribution to the debate. On 10 February this year, as members would know, I previewed the government’s preferred model for its nation-leading electricity feed-in scheme. I have been most gratified by the positive response and support I and my department have received since that time from members of the public and industry.
On 12 February I tabled in this place amendments to the Electricity (Renewable Energy Premium) Act 2008 to enable the scheme to commence by 1 March this year.
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