Mefl Warns On New South Wales 'knee Jerk' Feed-in Tariff Decision

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28th October 2010, 04:46pm - Views: 1634





Misc Miscellaneous Moreland Energy Foundation Ltd (MEFL) 1 image




For comment contact:

Paul Murfitt, Chief Executive Officer

Mobile 0409 667 123 email paul

@

mefl.com.au

For media assistance contact:

Marie McInerney, Media Liaison 

Mobile 0418 273 698 email marie

@

mefl.com.au






Media Release  28 Oct 2010

Moreland Energy Foundation urges others not to follow

New South Wales ‘knee jerk’ feed-in tariff decision

Other Australian states and territories should not risk crippling the solar  industry by

following the New South Wales Government’s decision to reduce its feed-in tariff to

20c per kilowatt hour, the Moreland Energy Foundation Limited (MEFL) said.

“While the New South Wales feed-in-tariff scheme was clearly overheated, the claim

that feed-in-tariff policies are driving energy price rises is absurd,” said MEFL CEO

Paul Murfitt.

“Victoria’s feed-in-tariff adds less than $1 per year to electricity bills.  The vast

majority of price rises are due to the costs of upgrading the network infrastructure

required to deliver mostly coal fired power to the grid, which will require $42 billion of

investment over the next 5 years.  Solar panels on roofs can actually reduce the cost

of electricity by reducing the burden on

transmission infrastructure and deferring

expensive upgrades.”

“The NSW decision is a knee-jerk over-reaction to a flood of misleading reports on

the cost of feed-in-tariffs, and will strike at the heart of New South Wales’

emerging

renewable energy industry.”

“The NSW

feed-in-tariff was simply set too high”, said Mr Murfitt.  “A well designed

feed-in-tariff should be set at a level that is sufficient to drive industry development,

but should be easily adjustable in response to falling system costs and improved

technology.  Such a severe cut is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

The case for feed-in-tariffs remains strong.  Feed-in-tariffs are based on the well-

recognised economic principle that many new industries need support in their

infancy. Feed-in-tariffs are the most widely used measure in the world for supporting

renewable energy, and over 50 countries and 25 states or provinces have now

adopted a feed-in-tariff in some form.






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