Solar fare up

Slashing the solar panel rebate will undermine homeowner’s confidence in green programs, according to Ally Tesoriero from the solar power installation company Solar Switch.

Premier Barry O’Farrell will introduce retrospective legislation to cut the solar scheme from 60 cents to 40 cents in a move that is expected to save $471 million. More than 120,000 households already signed up will have their rebate slashed by 20 cents.

Mr Tesoriero said Mr O’Farrell was setting “a very dangerous precedent” that would undermine public confidence in the solar industry and the government itself.

“It will be shooting itself in the foot as it will say that NSW isn’t a safe place to invest your money,” he said.

More than 500 customers, employers and solar industry workers rallied in the city on March 18 to protest against the government’s decision to scrap the plan.

Maroubra MP Michael Daley slammed the decision to downsize the $1.9 billion program to help reduce the budget blowout that Energy Minister Chris Hartcher said was “threatening” the state.

“I think what the O’Farrell Government has done is a terrible thing, it is terrible for people who want to do the right thing and generate renewable energy and it says that when you enter into an agreement with this government, it can be changed at any time,” Mr Daley said.

But Mr Hartcher said the NSW Government was committed to renewable energy -“our focus will be sensible, sustained and affordable progress”.

Mr Hartcher said about 400,000 people are still waiting for their panels to be connected or have applications still pending. They will receive either a 40 or 20 cent rebate depending on which contract they signed up to.

The Greens have slammed the Government’s management of the scheme. Greens MP John Kaye said the suspension and the cuts would effectively gut the solar energy industry in NSW, cutting jobs and further opportunities. The scheme is slated to finish up in December 2016.

DID YOU KNOW?

During its first 10 months, from January last year, 99,000 customers connected or applied to connect under the solar scheme.The former Labor Government was forced to slash the feed-in tariff to 20 cents for new customers in November after a massive surge in installations. When former premier Kristina Keneally announced on November 18 that new applicants to the scheme would have their rebates scaled back from 60c to 20c, 37,000 people still applied to the scheme in three weeks. The three weeks of sign-ups cost $500 million and pumped 79 megawatts into the state electricity grid. The entire scheme has now blown out to 365mW.