The near 140,000 households in New South Wales on premium solar tariffs will have to obtain a new meter – either at high cost or locking into a contract with a retailer – or face the prospect of giving away all the output of their rooftop solar systems for next to nothing.
That’s the picture that is slowly emerging with the details of the NSW government’s plans to handle the end of the solar premium feed-in-tariff at the end of this year.
The NSW government is hoping to use the end of the premium FiTs to accelerate the shift to smart meters, although there is confusion over how that will be done.
In an emailed statement to RenewEconomy and One Step Off The Grid following our most recent article reflecting concerns from solar installers, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage insists that the change to new meters will be entirely voluntary.
It is proposing new rules that shift the onus on smart meter provisioning to the electricity retailers, and is allowing a broader range of electricians to be able to install them to reduce the cost. Many retailers are expected to offer the smart meters for little or no cost, in exchange for locking in their customers for an extended period.
What is not clear is how those solar households who do not want to sign contracts with retailers can access the smart meters, or if households in regional areas will have the same options. Around half of the households on the premium FiTs are in regional areas.
Solar installers – more than 100 of whom attended a briefing from the NSW government on the issue last Friday – fear that the only choice for these households is to hire a “level 2” electrician that could cost $600 or more for installation and the new meter.
The alternative is to stay on so-called “interval meters” which will only measure the gross solar output and will not allow the households to use their own solar power to offset the cost of grid power.
In other words, they will pay whatever tariff they can secure from their own retailer for all their solar output (this could be around 6c/kWh) and pay the prevailing retailer rate (around 25c/30c/kWh, or more on time of use tariffs) for all their usage.
“Most metering stock currently rolled out to Solar Bonus Scheme customers is effectively interval meters with communications capability and does not have the capability to read both net and gross solar panel output,” the department of resources and energy says.
“This limits the range of data many existing customers can get from their existing meter – hence the need to change.”
The department suggests that any concerns about cost are not valid, considering the benefits that the scheme offered to solar households.
“Scheme customers have enjoyed generous subsidies for their feed-in tariffs of many thousands of dollars during the life of the Scheme. In a number of instances, this is in excess of $10,000.”
The NSW government will announce further details of options for solar households in a letter that is due to be sent within the next week.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of One Step Off The Grid, and also edits and founded Renew Economy and The Driven. He has been a journalist for 35 years and is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review.
This post was published on March 23, 2016 10:44 am
Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer says its retail network has more than doubled over the…
Solar for Apartments Program offers up to $100,000 to eligible bodies corporate, 50% as a…
State government-backed rebate designed to install bulk residential rooftop PV and electric hot water has…
People who live in apartments are less likely to benefit from solar power or efficient…
Australia falls out of global top 10 solar countries. Plus: GridBeyond's Michael Phelan on the…
New Zealand company unveils plans to start making its new-look lead acid home batteries in…
View Comments
Off grid.
5-6c is virtually nothing
I knew this would happen, the monster gets it's way, however the death spiral cometh ever faster for the greedy utilities. As I have mentioned on previous posts for RE to work it's magic to the ultimate for all concerned, is for the utilities to play ball and stay in the game, sure they will get reduced revenue, but it seems greed knows no bounds.
Within 10yrs I see a majority of households defecting from the grid. They (utilities and networks) may have a secret business model that will cater for that but the grid as we know it will be compromised.
I for one am ready to fire my broad side at them, but I can afford to do so, having wholesale purchasing power.
"Prediction", Baird will side with utilities and the networks and will try, if not succeed in bringing in legislation to penalise those wanting to jump ship, by charging for SAC because its going past your place, whether you use it or not.
Shit, I hope I'm wrong
A chain saw should fix the wires (Poles ) going past your house ?
If they get storage and don't feed any electricity in to the grid they won't need a new meter will they?
Looking through the specs of the frequently installed EM5100 meter,
it appears to be capable of gross and net metering. I'd like to think that all bi-directional meters can do net. The eM1200, for example, has been used in other states for net metering. Of course it will
require an Essential Energy approved electrician to reprogram it and
lodge the paperwork. And we have to wonder whether E.E. will be advising solar system
owners of this option....or rather sell new, expensive meters.
Its a very good reason to install storage. NiFe Cells all the way!
Victoria has had a mandatory (user pays) smart meter requirement for years, and it works well. I can monitor my usage and exports in near real time thanks to the United Energy web portal. To all you NSW users, I suggest you BUY your smart meter outright (like we had to do in Vic). This then allows you to swap and change retailers whenever you like, instead of being locked into a retailer for who knows how many years.