ACT residents can produce own electricity under new law

AAP Newswire
Thursday 3/7/2008

CANBERRA, July 3 AAP - ACT residents can now harness their own electricity and sell it back to the grid, under new laws passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly. Under the Electricity Feed-in (Renewable Energy Premium) Bill 2008, Canberrans can install photovoltaic (solar) cells or other renewable sources, produce their own energy, and sell it back to the power grid.

In return, they'll be paid a tariff 3.88 times the retail cost of electricity for the clean energy they feed back for up to 20 years from the date they sign up to the scheme. A spokeswoman from Chief Minister Jon Stanhope's office says the tariff is the highest in the country, ahead of South Australia which also has legislated feed-in laws.

"It offers Canberrans an incentive to invest in renewable energy production. .. that they can feed back into the grid at a rate much higher than energy they would have otherwise bought," ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said in a statement. The cost of the scheme will be passed on to consumers in proportion to the amount of electricity they use.

That means companies who use much larger amounts of electricity will be billed higher than low-income families and pensioners in small dwellings. "Coal-fired electricity will become more expensive as a price is put on carbon, and drought affects supply," ACT Conservation Council spokeswoman Genevieve Wauchope said in a statement.

"When packaged with a suite of initiatives, such as a short-term emissions reduction target, energy efficiency measures, and better public transport, the tariff will position Canberra as the Australian leader in a carbon constrained future." Ms Wauchope said the federal government should consider a national feed-in tariff, to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.