No matter how many times the anti-home solar brigade perpetuates the myth that rooftop solar panel schemes, subsidies and rebates are a major culprit in electricity price hikes; it still won’t make it true.
With so much information available debunking this furphy, you could be forgiven for thinking the issue is settled; done and dusted, once and for all, forever and ever, amen.
Yet statements are continually made to suggest otherwise. It’s not just Louie Luddite and Joe Anti-Solar Surfer making these claims either – some career journalists still fall into the trap of repeating these urban legends as fact – as do politicians; which is particularly unsettling given the clean energy future of our nation is at stake.
But don’t just take our word for solar being an angel of energy; one helping hundreds of thousands of Australian families slash or wipe out their power bills – after all, Energy Matters is just a tad biased as commercial and home solar power is our bread and butter.
Instead, we again direct attention to a very lengthy report from the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) released late last year; one of many reports showing solar power’s impact on electricity prices has been, is – and will be – minimal.
We’ll let the national and state-by-state figures speak for themselves* – note the SRES (Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme) and feed in tariff figures:
The report was prepared by the AEMC for the Ministerial Council on Energy following a request from the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).
Solar is but a bit player in recent, current and future price hikes – that is really all there is to it. The next time you hear or read of someone perpetuating myths of home solar power being the electricity price rise bogeyman, you can help set the record straight by pointing those wayward souls to this page.
* Tables from AEMC, Possible Future Retail Electricity Price Movements: 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2014, Final Report, 25 November 2011, Sydney.
