ATA

The Federal Government's desire to "harmonise" state feed-in tariffs is an excellent opportunity for consistent, long-term policy that recognises the true energy market value of distributed generation like solar technology, says the Alternative Technology Association (ATA).

Damien Moyse, the ATA's energy projects and policy manager, welcomed Energy Minister Martin Ferguson's decision for a process to create a unified approach to feed-in tariffs at this week's Energy White Paper announcement.

"Mr Ferguson is right when he talks about a ‘dog's breakfast' of state-based feed-in tariffs. We need long-term policy consistency and a climate of certainty for solar consumers and the industry that recognises the long-term value of solar, particularly at the wholesale energy market level," Mr Moyse said.

"At the moment, Queensland has a generous feed-in tariff while NSW has none with IPART recommending that feed-in tariffs shouldn't even be mandatory - completely missing the point that solar has a market value and that value needs to be recognised long-term."

Mr Moyse said prices for solar would continue to fall, with the levelised cost of energy from a solar system virtually guaranteed to be cheaper than electricity supplied through the network from a coal-fired power station in the next five years. But feed-in tariff policy certainty and consistency needed to be locked in to ensure a healthy industry and strong consumer support.

"We look positively at the Minister's desire for a harmonised approach to feed-in tariff policy and we'll be expecting a policy review next year to start in this regard," Mr Moyse said.

Despite this, Mr Moyse said the ATA was disappointed by other aspects of the White Paper - in particular, the abandonment of emissions standards for new power stations.

"This was one of the government's core election promises - dropping this is a recipe for continuing pollution by this country's major emitters."

The ATA is a not-for-profit consumer-based organization promoting renewable energy, water saving and sustainable building design.