PDC: Solar tariff working group

This Working Group (WG) was established by the Policy Development Committee (PDC) on 23 January 2013.

Working group report
This working group was tasked with developing policy to implement a national solar tariff scheme. The working group was chaired by Mark Gibbons and will present the following policy text to the March 6 PDC meeting.

Recommendation
As per the MAUT decision table for the Solar Tariff Policy Working Group, we recommend the institution of a national solar tariff scheme covering all sectors of the economy, with a payback period of under 20 years.

Preamble
Further action needs to be taken to prevent climate change, and this change needs to be implemented in ways that harness our natural advantages and increase our economic resilience. Australia has immense natural advantages as a source for solar energy, receiving more solar radiation than any other continent. However this immense natural advantage is not being utilized, and the International Energy Agency reports that Australia's share of the solar PV market fell from around 7 per cent in 1991 to 1 per cent in 2008.[1]

Global solar take-up has proven to be highly responsive to policy,[2] but Australia remains burdened with a patchwork of state schemes,[3] which fail to provide the advantages available through an unified nationwide approach.[4] Policies enacted in Germany and Spain have shown the potential of such an approach,[5] and the Pirate Party is seeking to align our own scheme to this template of global best practice. This template provides tariffs to all sectors of the economy - not just households, and offers a guaranteed payback period. Within Australia, some states continue to utilize net metering, which provides returns only on power exported to the grid after usage on the premises has been excluded: nationwide standardized gross metering would offer superior predictability by providing a guaranteed return on all energy generated.[6] A single nationwide tariff will thus offer a guaranteed and clear return to investors in solar energy, and the resulting distribution of power generation into the community will help to reduce emissions, create high skilled jobs in the solar industry, and address the community's vulnerability to power company decisions and global price shocks.[7]

Policy text
The Pirate Party proposes the following measures to reduce carbon emissions and capitalize on Australia's potential as a source of renewable energy.

Institute a single National Feed-in Tariff.
 * A proposal will be placed before COAG to lift the burden of funding solar feed-in tariffs from the states and instead apply a uniform nationwide scheme.
 * Gross metering will replace net metering on solar installations.
 * A single compliance and regulation regime will apply to solar companies in place of the varying regimes currently imposed by state authorities.
 * Solar best practice recommendations from the Australian Solar Council will be adopted, including a stronger compliance regime, improved staff development and training, and a "trust mark" program to assist consumers in identifying reliable companies.
 * Tariffs will extend to all sectors—not just households.
 * Tariff rebates will be guaranteed for a period of at least 20 years and will be set to meet a 10-15 year payback period.
 * The initial tariff level will be fixed by an expert panel and will be expected to decline over time as solar technology becomes cheaper and more efficient.

Phase out existing subsidies to fossil fuel industries.
 * This phasing will occur as solar take-up reduces the need for older forms of energy.

[1]http://www.feedintariff.com.au/ae-fit.pdf - page 4 [2]http://www.feedintariff.com.au/ae-fit.pdf - page 8 [3]http://www.energymatters.com.au/government-rebates/feedintariff.php [4]http://www.shapingtomorrowsworld.org/greggfeedins.html [5]http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/C/7/Chapter_16_Accelerating_Technological_Innovation.pdf - page 367 [6]http://www.power-eng.com/articles/print/volume-114/issue-10/departments/View-on-Renewables/the-us-needs-a-feed-in-tariff.html [7]http://www.renewablesinternational.net/merit-order-effect-of-pv-in-germany/150/510/33011/

[| MAUT table link]

'''Got feedback or suggestions? Send us an email at policydev@pirateparty.org.au.'''

Meeting Schedule
This working group has concluded the drafting process and no further meetings are currently scheduled.