All key solar industry stakeholders and the broader community are urged to comment on options to potentially extend the scope of the ACT Government's nation leading electricity Feed-In Tariff scheme, Minister for Energy, Simon Corbell said today.

"Stage 1 of the Feed-In Tariff has been an overwhelming success with a 116% increase in the number of solar PV installations since the Scheme was launched in March 2009. The Government projected 90% growth within the first 12 months of the scheme, and community participation has been significantly higher," Mr Corbell said.

"It is now time to look at options to possibly expand the scheme to include larger scale generators in order to further encourage the deployment of clean energy generation."

"The ACT scheme is the only Australian gross feed-in tariff which pays consumers a premium rate to feed back all of their solar generated electricity into the grid. The scheme is currently limited to installations of 30 kW capacity, about 180 standard PV panels."

The Government committed in March 2009 to undertake further community consultation on whether larger scale generators should be allowed to be part of the scheme.

"This discussion paper is the trigger point for that consultation. It outlines the environmental and economic outcomes of possibly extending the tariff," Mr Corbell said.

"The Government is very conscious of any cost burden arising from any increase in electricity tariffs, especially on low income households. The ACT currently provides concession payments to these households to assist with cost increases and the need to provide further assistance is canvassed in this community consultation. Increases in electricity costs as a result of the feed in tariff are small compared to price rises occurring due to more demand in the National Electricity Market and other national policy settings.

"The economic impact of broadening the Feed -In Tariff scheme is explored in detail in this consultation paper. In summary the economic modelling finds significant jobs growth in the short to medium term as a result of the expansion of the Feed-In Tariff. Further analysis indicates that in the long term measures to lock in this jobs growth as a part of a clean economy strategy will be needed."

"The Government is also continuing to investigate the option of legislating to place a mandate on energy companies to provide a suite of energy efficiency programs that would not only reverse greenhouse gas emissions, but also reduce household electricity bills."
The review of the scheme is being conducted by an Inter-Agency Committee chaired by the Department of the Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water (DECCEW), which administers the existing Feed-in Tariff.

Community consultation sessions are scheduled to be held in February 2010 with exact times and locations to be advertised closer to the time. Formal submissions on the paper close on 28 February, 2010.

Copies of the discussion paper are available to download from the DECCEW website at http://www.environment.act.gov.au/ and at ACT Public Libraries and ACT Government Shopfronts. For further information on the discussion paper, contact DECCEW's Energy Projects team through Canberra Connect on 13 22 81.

Media Contact:
Patrick Cronan
6205 0401
0432 758 224
patrick.cronan@act.gov.au