PM Julia Gillard Blames Electricity Bill Shock on The States

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard will launch an attack on the states today over soaring power prices, barely a month after her own price-inflating carbon tax began. 
 
And she will use the latest figures to back up her argument - which show household power bills have increased by a staggering 62.4 per cent in South Australia over the past four years, adding $1086 in expenses to the average bill before the carbon price even kicked in.

That equals the second highest jump along with Western Australia, but is less than the 69.2 per cent hike in New South Wales since 2008-09.

Ms Gillard will say the burden on households from her carbon price will add a comparatively small $115 to that pain this financial year.

In a bold square-up to state governments who she says have too often benefited from revenue increases from electricity prices, she will claim the states are doing very well out of the misery of households and declare it simply cannot continue.

"Power bills have become the new petrol prices: not just an essential of life that always seems to be going up, but a vital commodity, where what we consume each day, or pay every quarter, seems far beyond our control," she will say in the address to the Energy Policy Institute of Australia.

"Prices have gone up - have gone up far and fast."
Government figures show the conservative-run states of NSW, Queensland and WA, where network services remain state-owned, have experienced windfall gains in revenue including 60 per cent growth for NSW, 16 per cent for Queensland, and almost 200 per cent growth for WA since 2009-10.

"Following the recent round of price increases, revenue for enterprises wholly owned by State Governments is up 50 per cent over the previous five-year period," she will say.

"This was in a period when revenue for the rest of the market players grew less than 30 per cent  ... for too long, some state governments have been increasing their revenue at the expense of the family electricity bill - that has to stop.

Plugging in will cost up to 70 per cent more in NSW this winter. In Victoria it will cost just 10 per cent extra. Picture: Herald Sun

"Australia did not need nearly 50 per cent price increases for households over the last four years and Australians can't afford the same kinds of increases over the next four years.
"It's a huge cost to our economy and it's a threat to fairness in our society."

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Solar Panel Firms ‘Mislead' Over Carbon

Two solar panel companies have been found to have made misleading comments about the impact of the carbon tax on electricity prices. 

POLARIS Solar and ACT Renewable Energy said in leaflets distributed in Western Australia and the ACT in late 2011 and early 2012 that customers should buy solar panels because electricity prices would increase by 20 per cent due to the carbon price.

The brochures also claimed the cost of power would rise by more than 400 per cent by 2019.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found the information was "clearly misleading".

While the brochures said the figures were based on independent studies, they were in fact based on unverified claims in an energy industry association ad.

"There was no reasonable basis for these claims to be made," ACCC acting chairman Michael Schaper said in a statement.

Polaris Solar and ACT Renewable Energy gave an undertaking on Tuesday not to engage in similar conduct in the future and ensure all directors are trained in consumer law.

Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said it was an important reminder to businesses they could not make false claims about the carbon price.

"This also underscores the fact that the reckless and negative scare campaign run by Tony Abbott and vested interests is putting businesses at risk of breaking the law," Mr Bradbury said.

Subsidy Cut Halts Solar Expansion

A SOLAR panel supplier has axed its plans to expand into Queensland after the government revealed it would slash the benefit for supplying power back into the grid - from 44¢ per kilowatt hour to 8¢.

Madison Australia's rethink came as industry lobby group Clean Energy Council argued the policy change could put thousands of jobs at risk, saying householders would reconsider the benefits of installing solar panels given the time taken to recoup their investment.

But Energy Minister Mark McArdle described the solar industry as viable, saying the scheme needed to be changed because all energy users were paying extra on their power bills to subsidise the feed-in tariff for solar panel owners.

Mr McArdle announced yesterday the feed-in tariff for providing power back to the grid would be cut to 8¢ per kilowatt hour, but anyone already in the Solar Bonus Scheme as of July 9 would continue to receive the 44¢ benefit.

Madison Australia director Yorath Briscoe said his Melbourne-based solar installation and retailing company was about to sign contracts in coming weeks to expand into the Gold Coast market.

He said the company had been planning to directly employ six staff in Queensland and contract up to 18 tradespeople, but the cut to the feed-in tariff would hit demand.

“There's going to be massive demand the next 10 days but after that there will be nothing,” he said, adding the company would no longer pursue the Queensland expansion plans.

“It's quite shocking that a government would pull the plug like this.”
The Clean Energy Council said under the current Queensland system, an average householder would break even on the initial investment after 4.5 years.

The average payback period would jump to about 10 years under one scenario modelled in research commissioned by the Clean Energy Council before yesterday's announcement.

But the cost of buying and installing solar panels was expected to progressively decrease in coming years so the break-even point could be less than 10 years for future customers, a council spokesman said.

Warning Issued Over Anti-Carbon Tax Posters

Labor is warning small businesses against displaying the Coalition's anti-carbon tax posters, saying they risk million-dollar fines if the information is found to be misleading.

The Coalition has sent the fliers to bakeries, butchers, dry cleaners and fruit shops just days before the carbon tax is due to take effect.

The tactic is a further sign that both sides of politics are preparing to ramp up their campaigning efforts surrounding the tax.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told a meeting of Coalition MPs that he and other senior party figures would be campaigning "across the country", warning people the tax would push up the cost of living and threaten jobs.

Labor is also preparing a coordinated campaign this weekend to reassure the community about the effects of the tax.

Special Minister of State Gary Gray plans to visit the South Australian city of Whyalla on Sunday - a community Mr Abbott said would be "wiped off the map" because of the carbon pricing scheme.

Earlier today, Mr Abbott visited an RSPCA compound in Canberra to point out that "thousands" of charities would be worse off under the tax despite Government reassurances.

The head of the RSPCA in the ACT, Michael Linke, estimates the cost of the carbon tax will be somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 per year for the local organisation.

"At this stage we're not expecting job losses here in Canberra," Mr Linke told reporters at Mr Abbott's media conference.
"There is absolutely no way that I'm going to compromise animal welfare, so we are going to have to shave costs in other areas."

The Government says more than $300 million is available to councils, community groups and charities to help offset the costs of the carbon tax.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard used Question Time to ridicule Mr Abbott's visit to the animal welfare charity.
"I can assure the Leader of the Opposition (that) on July 1, cats will still purr, dogs will still bark and the Australian economy will continue to get stronger," Ms Gillard told Parliament.

"Presumably tomorrow he will be out trying to scare Skippy the bush kangaroo, and the day after he'll be out trying to scare Puff the Magic Dragon, and so it will go on."

Posters

And Labor is also warning businesses to be "very, very careful" about being part of Mr Abbott's campaign by displaying posters in their shop fronts.

"Don't allow him to drag you into his cynical scare campaign because the consequences of that are very serious," Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury told Parliament.

"If you do mislead your customers, then you could face fines of up to $1.1 million."

But the Coalition has rejected suggestions their small business posters are misleading.

"The fliers do nothing more than explain the Government own modelling and policy," Opposition small business spokesman Bruce Billson said.

"This is just another example of the Gillard Government trying to intimidate small business to not pass on or talk about the impact of the carbon tax."

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set up a hotline for members of the public to make complaints about misleading carbon tax claims.

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Firms 'Less Prepared' For Low-Carbon World

Just days before Labor's pollution price takes effect, a new survey suggests Australian firms are feeling less prepared now for a low-carbon future than they were 12 months ago.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report, released on Tuesday, also finds only a third of respondents believe the opportunities created by imposing a carbon tax will outweigh the risks in the long term.
That's down from about 50 per cent in the inaugural survey in 2011.

The report says executives may have been overconfident before the details of Labor's scheme were announced in mid-2011.

Global uncertainty may also be behind the shift in sentiment, coupled with the fact that "corporate nervousness on the eve of the introduction of the carbon pricing scheme is bound to be at its peak".
But the Gillard government can take heart from other key findings.

About 85 per cent of directly affected businesses and two-thirds of all companies are already acting to reduce pollution.

"These findings indicate Australia's carbon pricing legislation has spurred firms to take action to reduce their carbon emissions," the report, commissioned by GE, states.

"This will ultimately reduce the country's overall carbon footprint."

GE ecomagination director Ben Waters is encouraged by the fact carbon pricing is already driving energy efficiency.

"We've been in the realm of opinion and policy advice but now we've got a law that's about to start," he told AAP.

"It's about getting into action, which is what business does best."

Almost three-quarters of the 136 senior executives surveyed by the EIU believe carbon pricing is here to stay - although almost half think a better regime will eventually replace Labor's current proposal.

That's partly because two-thirds believe the $23-a-tonne starting price is too high.

"It is likely that Australia, which is just about to take its first steps towards carbon pricing, will have to go through several years of discussion and trading before reaching equilibrium," the report states.

The Gillard government's carbon tax will transform into an emissions trading scheme in mid-2015.

The EIU analysis also suggests the corporate carbon agenda has shifted towards "cost reduction" in 2012.

Of the 300 biggest emitters that will pay the tax from July 1, more than half have set up dedicated roles or teams to identify greater carbon or energy efficiency measures internally.

Harvey Norman Invests in Solar Panels

RETAILER Harvey Norman plans to be a market leader in the domestic solar industry after placing a substantial order for user-friendly solar panels. 

United States-based Westinghouse said today it had received an order for five megawatts of its Solar Instant Connect solar panel systems from Harvey Norman.

The order represents a significant investment in the green technology, which will result in Westinghouse's shipments in 2012 more than doubling from 2011.

Harvey Norman said the uptake of solar energy in Australia was stronger than in most other parts of the world, with over 830 megawatts sold in the local market in 2011.

"With Australian power pricing continuing to rise, we are continuing to see very strong demand for solar installations," Harvey Norman commercial division franchisee Alan Stephenson said in a statement.

"In addition to supplying kitchen, bathroom items, hot water and air conditioning systems, we have established a solar business, which we believe will be a market leader."

The newly ordered solar panels require Australian certification, and the first shipments to Harvey Norman are expected to begin in late-2012, Westinghouse said.
Solar Australia: Harvey Norman Invests in Solar Panels

The End of Clean Energy Subsidies?

The federal government has given generously to the clean energy industry over the last few years, funneling billions of dollars in grants, loans and tax breaks to renewable power sources like wind and solar, biofuels and electric vehicles. “Clean tech” has been good in return.

During the recession, it was one of the few sectors to add jobs. Costs of wind turbines and solar cells have fallen over the last five years, electricity from renewables has more than doubled, construction is under way on the country’s first new nuclear power plant in decades. And the United States remains an important player in the global clean energy market.

 

Yet this productive relationship is in peril, mainly because federal funding is about to drop off a cliff and the Republican wrecking crew in the House remains generally hostile to programs that threaten the hegemony of the oil and gas interests.

The clean energy incentives provided by President Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill are coming to an end, while other longer-standing subsidies are expiring.

If nothing changes, clean energy funding will drop from a peak of $44.3 billion in 2009 to $16 billion this year and $11 billion in 2014 — a 75 percent decline. 

This alarming news is contained in a new report from experts at the Brookings Institution, the World Resources Institute and the Breakthrough Institute. It is a timely effort to attach real numbers to an increasingly politicized debate over energy subsidies. While Mr. Obama is busily defending subsidies, the Republicans have used the costly market failure of one solar panel company, Solyndra, to indict the entire federal effort to encourage nascent technologies. 

The Republican assault obscures real successes that simply would not have been possible without government help. Wind power is a case in point. By spurring innovation and growth, a federal production tax credit for wind amounting to 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour has brought the cost of electricity from wind power to a point where it is broadly competitive with natural gas, sustaining 75,000 jobs in manufacturing, installation and maintenance. 

But the tax credit is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, with potentially disastrous results: a 75 percent reduction in new investment and a significant drop in jobs. That is just about what happened the last time the credit was allowed to lapse, at the end of 2003. 

This is clearly the wrong time to step away from subsidies. But it may be the right time, the report says, to institute reforms, both to make the programs more effective and to make them more salable to budget hawks. One excellent proposal is to make the subsidies long term (ending the present boom or bust cycles) but rejigger them to reward lower costs and better performance. 

The idea is not to prop up clean tech industries forever. It is to get them to a point where they can stand on their own — an old-fashioned notion that, one would hope, might appeal even to House Republicans.

The End of Clean Energy Subsidies?