Following reports of solar power system owners being slugged excessive rates for electricity they draw from the grid; national solar solutions provider Energy Matters says that Australian electricity retailers should stop treating solar power households as second class citizens and apply Google’s corporate motto of “Don’t be evil”. Energy Matters has also announced the development of a league table to help consumers identify solar-friendly retailers.
A story appearing in the Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald this morning details the case of some solar power system owners who are at times being charged double for mains-supplied electricity after installing solar panels.
According to Energy Matters co-founder Max Sylvester, this is becoming all too common and the company has had enough. “It borders on gouging. We always tell clients to shop around for solar-friendly electricity retailers as some will offer far better deals than others.”
Mr. Sylvester believes that it is getting to the point where the Australian Government should intervene.
“People install a solar power system for two main reasons – to benefit the environment and to save money. These electricity retailers are in effect actively discouraging the uptake of solar power; which flies in the face of the Government’s aims.”
“Australian households trying to do their bit to lower their carbon emissions shouldn’t be penalised in such a way. Electricity retailers also seem to have a habit of making tariff structures confusing for solar power system owners. Situations like those mentioned in the reports are purely a case of electricity retailers ripping customers off rather than it being a solar power issue per se. We’re moving into a carbon-constrained, clean energy future – why unfairly target those helping to make it happen?”
Mr. Sylvester says his company is frustrated with the blocks some retailers place in the path of eco-conscious households and is developing a league table so consumers can see at a glance who the solar friendly electricity retailers of Australia are.
“We’ll be asking retailers throughout Australia to submit details to us on a regular basis and we’ll update the league table, which will be publicly available on our site, monthly. They can choose not to of course, but that will be duly noted in the table. Given the thousands of visitors to EnergyMatters.com.au each day, it will be in their best interests to keep us updated – and to offer fair deals for system owners.”
