Already faced with an 8.5% increase from July, Tasmania’s electricity customers may face up to a 10.97% jump after Aurora Energy submitted a proposal to Tasmania’s independent Economic Regulator to further bump up rates.
Aurora says extra costs primarily arising from investments made in the transmission and distribution systems are expected to result in a price increase of 10.97 per cent for residential, business and APAYG customers from 1 July this year, subject to the Regulator’s approval.
The company says investments in Tasmania’s transmission and distribution network infrastructure have added 2 per cent and a further increase of about 0.5 per cent can be attributed to changes under the federal renewable energy target schemes.
Tasmania isn’t the only state facing major increases in the price of electricity from July 1. New South Wales electricity customers will be slugged with an 18 per cent hike and consumers in South Australia will experience a 13 percent jump. Queenslanders will face an estimated 6.6% increase during 2011-2012.
The onslaught of electricity cost increases in recent years has taken the popularity of home solar power systems to new levels. Once primarily the realm of environmentally conscious consumer looking to reduce their carbon emission impact, increasingly solar power systems are being installed by average households seeking to buffer against rising electricity prices.
According to national solar power solutions provider Energy Matters’ instant solar quote tool, an entry-level 1.4 kW system installed in Hobart or Launceston can generate on average approximately 5 kilowatt hours of electricity a day, with a peak average production of around 8 kilowatt hours.
Currently available solar rebates in Tasmania reduce the financial outlay for rooftop solar panels by thousands of dollars and Tasmania’s feed-in tariff pays owners of rooftop systems 20c per kilowatt hour for surplus electricity generated; helping to accelerate payback time on a solar investment.
