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.
NEWS 
