Not so sunny as solar panel users are hit with higher power bills

Age
Thursday 8/10/2009 Page: 3

HAVING solar panels has cost some Victorian households more on their power bills after they lost entitlements to cheaper rates because an electricity company has installed different meters without notice. Electricity distributor Jemena has been replacing existing meters with a "single-element" meter in households installing solar panels in Melbourne's south-east and the Mornington Peninsula since the start of the year. The new meter does not record the right information for households to access an overnight off-peak electricity rate for their gas hot water.

Jemena would not explain why meters that did not allow for that off-peak rate were installed, saying instead that every network is different. The new meters are installed to help households access Victoria's feed-in-tariff for household solar panels. It is believed "multi-element" meters are being installed by other electricity distributors in other parts of the state which let households access both off-peak rates and the feed-in-tariff.

The problem has been made worse because electricity retailers have refused to pass on a replacement off-peak rate that was brought in to compensate affected households - meaning households with solar panels have been locked out of electricity rates they are entitled to. This week The Age contacted a number of Mornington Peninsula residents who confirmed their off-peak rate was cancelled without warning. McCrae pensioner Graham Salter said his solar panel system had done nothing to lower his power bills and he had been stung unexpectedly with higher bills since the start of the year.

Retired businessman David Tregear said he was upset that lie had tried to do the right thing and was instead getting more expensive power bills. Pensioner Peter Strickland said he had paid thousands for his solar system thinking he was doing something to help tackle climate change. "The lesson is probably you shouldn't get between the power companies and a bucket of money," he said. Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt, whose electorate is one of the areas affected, said he did not accept claims by electricity retailers that they could not pass on the replacement off-peak rate. He said if the State Government was not prepared to take on the power companies then Canberra should get involved.

A spokesman for Jemena told The Age the company was compliant with solar legislation and had been installing meters on behalf of the owner of the southeast network United Energy Distribution. The spokesman blamed retailers for not passing on the secondary off-peak rate and said Jemena would submit a new "tinge-of-use" off-peak rate which it expects retailers will pass on to affected customers from the start of next year.

A spokesman for AGE, the primary retailer in the affected regions, said Jemena had not informed them they were installing "single- element" meters, meaning they could not warn customers they would lose their off-peak rate. Thousands of householders who applied for the Federal Government's $8000 solar rebate just before it was abruptly ended in June will find out today whether they were successful. A spokesman for Environment Minister Peter Garrett said 10% of applications failed.