Cloud over

By Tania Martin
This follows calls for electricity retailers to pay Victorians cash rather than credit under the scheme.
Energy Minister Peter Batchelor last week said the proposed bill would allow credits to be paid to householders with solar panels.
Those who take up the scheme would be eligible to claim 60 cents per kilowatt hour for excess energy which is fed back into the grid each year.
But Mr Batchelor admitted that the bill had hit a snag.
He said the government had received advice indicating that cash payments would expose the scheme to serious risks under the constitution.
“To ensure the feed-in tariff is not an excise, we won’t mandate that customers in credit after 12 months are paid out in cash, however this doesn’t stop retailers from paying out customers,” Mr Batchelor said.
But Mr Cook said the suggestion that retailers should pay customers cash rather then credit was a cop out.
“It’s a flaw in the proposed legislation which has opened up this problem,” he said.
“He (Batchelor) should fix it by amending the legislation rather than expecting consumers to negotiate a deal with their energy retailers.”
Mr Cook also slammed Mr Batchelor for opposing a proper feed-in tariff system on the basis of cost.
“At first he said a real feed-in tariff would cost $100 per household per year … now he is claiming it will cost $40,” he said.
“The question is why doesn’t he read his own consultant’s report which found it would cost $7 to $8 per year?”
However, a government spokesman said there were many different models of feed-in tariffs and each would cost consumers differently
“Under the Environment Victoria model, consumers would be slugged with a $100 extra on their bill, and under a gross scheme the Government modelled, consumers would be hit with an extra $40 a year,” he said.
“But our fair net feed-in tariff scheme, Victorians would pay up to $10 a year extra on their bill.”
Mr Cook also said Mr Batchelor was more interested in dumping the legislation than accepting any real amendments that might make it workable.
“If he kills off the solar feed-in tariff, he will kill the only real action on climate change the State Government has on the table,” he said.
But the spokesman denied any talk of dumping the bill and said the government was committed to introducing a premium feed-in tariff scheme.
“However, we will not be considering any amendments, such as a gross feed-in tariff, that will unfairly burden disadvantaged Victorians during these tough global economic times,” he said.