Proposed Tariff a Disincentive for Household Renewable Energy
On The Science Show with Robyn Williams.
Australia’s ancient electricity distribution system was designed for one-way flow. Large, centralised power stations sending power out to users. But now the system needs to offer two-way flow as households with solar panels often have excess power available to send back into the grid.
A recent draft ruling of the Australian Energy Market Commission has proposed charging a tariff for household solar energy producers who want to sell their excess power back to energy distributors.
The funds would go to designing a new grid for two-way flow. But as Alison Crook argues, any tariff will be a disincentive for those considering investing in rooftop solar and will support the old idea of centralised power distribution rather than the new model of microgrids and community generation and storage.
Source: abc
