Subject: Your solar payments are under threat
Dear fellow Tasmanian
The future of solar power in Tasmania is under threat.
From 1 January next year, Aurora will cease to exist as a
retailer and the household and small business customers (that’s you) will be
sold to one of two private retailers. Solar PV owners in Tasmania currently
receive around 27c for each kWh they export under Aurora’s tariff 31. But there
won’t be an Aurora next year! Despite repeated requests, submissions and
lobbying, all that the Minister for Energy, Bryan Green will say is that there
will be a ‘fair and reasonable’ feed in tariff and the government is still
taking advice on the issue. The ‘fair and reasonable’ tariff paid to customers
in Victoria is 8c/kWh. In NSW no feed in tariff is mandated, some retailers pay
nothing for the power fed into the grid, and some pay just 5.2c!
What does this mean for you?
If you are an
existing solar owner: it means right now there is no certainty over the
future of the payments for the clean safe energy you are generating and feeding
into the grid.
If you are a
Tasmanian that hopes to one day install solar on your roof: it means that
while your investment will help you lower your own power bills, you are likely
to get a much lower price for the excess energy you create – effectively
subsidising the big power companies!
Sign the petition to ensure current and future Tasmanian
solar owners receive a fair price for the solar power they feed into the grid: http://www.solarcitizens.org.au/savesolartasmania
All this is why Save
Solar Tasmania - a new alliance of businesses, householders and community
groups - has come together to call on the State government to act urgently to
safeguard investment in Tasmania's solar homes.
We are teaming up with the soon to launch Solar Citizens project - to bring
together the 10,000 solar homes in Tasmania, as well as everyone who one day
hopes to go solar - to tell the Tasmanian government to give solar a fair go.
Sign the petition here: http://www.solarcitizens.org.au/savesolartasmania
For most Tasmanians using the power of the sun to generate
energy just makes sense. Solar brings many benefits including new jobs, reduced
wholesale power prices and new generation of clean safe energy. It helps build
a network of renewable energy generation across a range of sources (solar,
wind, hydro) and enhances Tasmania’s reputation of being clean and green.
We look forward to working with you to ensure a strong
future for solar in Tassie. Please sign and share the petition today. We will
keep you up to date with our Tasmanian campaign and you will also receive news
on the national Solar Citizens
campaign.
Regards,
Jack Gilding
On behalf of Save
Solar Tasmania
