WA Slashes Solar Plan Due to “Popularity”
Announcement posted by DesignBuild Source 16 May 2012
The green building sector has taken a hit over the past few weeks with an end to ongoing issues in the sector nowhere in sight. After the highly controversial axing of the Tax on Green Buildings program by the federal government left the entire industry in shock, the Western Australia state government has suspended its solar feed-in tariff scheme because it is simply too popular.
The scheme originally involved a paid system, whereby households with rooftop solar panels were able to sell back excess energy onto the grid, beginning at 40c per kilowatt hour and later reduced to 20c per kilowatt hour.
Energy Minister Peter Collier states that the scheme, which has long exceeded its 150-megawatt cap, is expected to exceed its budget by more than $150 million over its 10-year lifetime after already being suspended last year.
Collier admits that the initiative has already blown its $23 million budget for its four-year implementation period, with total figures for this same timeframe sitting at $60 million.
These costs will, however, fall back onto the state power retailer Synergy.
“There will be no additional impost in terms of Western Australian taxpayers,” says Collier.
However, while the taxpayer will not have to pay for the extra costs, Collier has been accused of being dishonest in the scheme’s operation. The state opposition has accused Collier of acknowledging the cap breach and still not disclosing this to the public...