Government RET Position – The Reaction

Renewable Energy Target debate

The Abbott government’s ‘preliminary’ stance on a scaling back of the Renewable Energy Target has been met with heavy criticism.

Yesterday we reported while the Government apparently intends leaving support for home solar power systems as is and would end 2 yearly reviews of the RET, it also wishes to slash the Renewable Energy Target to a “real” 20% and exempt all emissions intensive industries from the RET.

As mentioned in that report, the Australian Solar Council has expressed concerns regarding where this will leave the commercial solar sector and said the reduction would effectively kill investment in large-scale renewable energy.

The Clean Energy Council has also warned a ‘real’ 20 per cent  RET constitutes a broken promise by the Federal Government, would lead to the decimation of the renewable energy industry and increase power prices for consumers.

“The Renewable Energy Target legislation that has been supported by all political parties for over a decade is explicit about the 41,000GWh target, and the Coalition re-stated its commitment to it in the lead up to the recent election,” said Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton

“Moving the goal posts so significantly on investors would result in massive asset devaluation, job losses and business closures, and send a signal to international investors that Australia is closed for business.”

Labor leader Bill Shorten called the ‘real’ 20% target a fraud.

“Labor has made it clear that we will engage in discussions. But we’ve got a no-go, we’ve got no-go zones. You know, the Government says they want a real 20 per cent, I call it a fraud 20 per cent, a fake 20 per cent,” he said.

“The truth of the matter is that renewable energy is part of our energy mix, it’s had a great benefit for a whole lot of consumers. We’ve seen 1.2 million households have gone to having some part of their energy from solar power. We’ve seen thousands of jobs created, thousands of jobs created, and we’ve seen billions of dollars of investment. The real damage that this Government is doing in renewable energy cannot be overstated.”

Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne says slashing the target and giving emissions intensive industries a free pass undermines the spirit of the RET.

“There is absolutely no reason, and no excuse, for weakening the Renewable Energy Target. The Labor Party must stand firm and reject this deal outright,” said Senator Milne.

Andrew Blakers, director of the Australian National University’s Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, described the new policy as a ‘free kick for fossil fuels’.

According to a report on SMH, general manager of Pacific Hydro Lane Crockett said: “What reason can there be [for this cut] other than to protect the coal industry?” and the Australian Wind Alliance’s Andrew Bray stated the government had “learnt nothing” from the Warburton review

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