The New Year came with changes that affected various solar feed-in tariff schemes in some Australian states.
Apparently, the adjustments made to the New South Wales had the most impact on solar homes and businesses. Those who enrolled for the legacy New South Wales Solar Bonus Scheme and have been earning $0.20-$0.60 per kilowatt hour for all surplus power generated and exported to the grid will now receive an unsubscribed rate falling in the range of $0.047 to $0.08 per kWh.
Additionally, this rate will only be payable on excess electricity exports. In most of these scenarios, solar households will have to install a new meter, something that further complicates the already unpleasant situation.
For the affected solar customers, this translates to higher electricity bills which may amount to thousands of dollars each year.
In Victoria, the Legacy Transitional and Standard Feed-in Tariff Schemes also came to a close with the New Year, affecting about 70,000 households and businesses in the state. The closure of the TFiT will reduce participants’ earnings from $0.25/kWh to as low as $0.05/kWh.
On the other end, South Australia’s mandatory minimum feed-in tariff ended on January 1 following a decision undertaken by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia. The Commission stated that the state’s minimum FiT rate didn’t really benefit consumers, although the situation is being monitored closely.
SA electricity retailers will still offer their customers feed-in tariffs despite there being no set minimum amount. Solar homes are required to check with their electricity retailers to find out how much they will receive and what changes they should expect.
Households and businesses that have been affected by the recent changes in Feed-in tariffs can consider solar battery systems as an option to help them make the most of their valuable solar power sourced electricity.
IMAGE via Alan Levine
