Some Solar Households Unfairly Slugged For Electricity

Media reports emerged yesterday claiming some solar power system owners in Australia were being charged ridiculously high rates for mains-grid supplied electricity compared to non-solar customers. An investigation by Energy Matters since has revealed some astounding reasons as to why this is likely happening in some cases.

Yesterday, media reports emerged claiming some solar power system owners in Australia were being charged ridiculously high rates for mains-grid supplied electricity compared to non-solar customers. An investigation by Energy Matters since has revealed some astounding reasons as to why this is likely happening in some cases.
   
After reading the reports, an Energy Matters representative contacted a major electricity retailer in Victoria in order to determine why some system owners are being penalised; a rather counter-productive practice considering the owners of home solar power systems are making a critical contribution towards Australia’s clean energy future.
   
According to the retailer, in Victoria a moratorium has been placed on Time of Use (ToU) tariffs, freezing rollout to the public until 2013. However, it appears solar powers customers fall ‘outside the scope’ of this moratorium and are eligible have ToU metering applied.
  
ToU tariffs are set by the retailers based on the costs passed through to them by the distributors. Distributors price the ToU costs based on the capacity of their system to supply in peak times. If there’s a large peak, particularly on a hot day and demand is high; the cost of supplying electricity increases and that additional cost will be passed on to the consumer; with rates dropping during off-peak times.
  
In the case profiled yesterday, it is quite possible the solar power system owner is living in an area where there is  under-developed infrastructure, which means the cost of electricity supply increases disproportionately to other areas during peak – and because he falls outside the moratorium on Time of Use tariffs, he is paying the price for it during peak periods.
  
The very unfair aspect of the situation is the ethics behind rolling out time of use metering without providing an in-house display which communicates the price of electricity at different times of the day, which can then act as a flag to the consumer and give them the opportunity to modify their usage. Even more unfair is that solar customers are wearing the brunt of it.
  
Energy Matters feels strongly that if solar power system owners are going to be billed in such a way, the electricity retailers must keep the owner informed of ToU tariffs. The company will continue to lobby on this issue and encourages those who have fallen victim to ToU related price hikes without appropriate notification to contact their relevant Electricity Ombudsman.
  
In Victoria, the contact is the office of the Energy and Water Ombudsman:
  
Freecall: 1800 500 509 
Freefax: 1800 500 549
Interpreter: 131 450
NRS: 133 677
Email: ewovinfo@ewov.com.au
  
Energy Matters also strongly encourages system owners to shop around electricity retailers for deals as some retailers are more solar-friendly than others. The company is currently developing a “league table” for each state which will be available at www.energymatters.com.au shortly to try and help consumers identify solar-friendly retailers.
  

Get a quick solar quote, or contact us today toll free on 1800 EMATTERS or email our friendly team for expert, obligation-free advice!

Other Energy Matters news services: