7News exclusive: Stoner's solar slip

Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner cashed-in on the lucrative solar bonus scheme after learning it was pushing up power prices and costing taxpayers billions, a 7News report has exclusively reported.

The 7News investigation showed Mr Stoner paid his deposit for solar panels at least six hours after then Premier Kristina Keneally announced the program would close.

At 10am on October 27 last year, Ms Keneally reduced the scheme's 60 cent tariff rate to 20 cents, declaring: "What we are doing today is slowing down the scheme in order to stop any further impact on electricity prices."

A two-month investigation by 7News has uncovered that at the time of that press conference Mr Stoner had not paid one cent towards roof panels which would later be installed in his home.

On that day, when politician after politician criticised the massive blow-out of the scheme and its impact on our bills, Mr Stoner made a last ditch attempt to enter at the 60 cent rate.

During question time at 2.20pm he emailed his installer to say he was having difficulty making the payment.

Then at 4pm, as the shadow treasurer debated the state's economy, Mr Stoner was granted a pair excusing him from the house.

At 4.24pm he emailed his installer saying he had transferred the $100 needed to secure his application.

While privately Mr Stoner was rushing to enter the scheme - publicly he was slamming the Labor government over it.

The very next day, October 28, Mr Stoner demanded answers from then energy minister Paul Lynch about when he was first advised that solar bonus scheme "if left unchecked could cost consumers billions of dollars, as warned by the New South Wales Liberals and Nationals during debate on the solar bonus bill last November."

Ms Keneally said yesterday: "This is the ultimate show in hypocrisy from deputy premier andrew stoner.

She set a midnight deadline for applicants to secure the 60 cent tarriff, which later dropped to 20 cents.

"We did that so families who'd ordered panels, taken out loans, had the opportunity to get themselves sorted out,'' she said.

Opposition leader John Robertson said Mr Stoner's behaviour was hypocritcal.

"A man who's going to make $1200 a year out of this scheme at the expense of mums and dads, feigning indignation in the parliament and sneaking out the backdoor to sign up and make a quick buck."

According to the report, Mr Stoner's office initially said he applied in August or September, before saying they lost the documents in the office move.

Finally, they told 7News that Mr Stoner had paid his deposit in October.

In response to the investigation, Mr Stoner says he has not done anything wrong and he simply signed up on the basis of what was available to all members of the public.

The 7News report states Mr Stoner wasn't the only one to join at the last minute. Last month, one of Mr Stoner's colleagues confirmed there was a massive spike on that final night."

When asked about those who rushed into the scheme before midnight, Energy Minister Chris Hartcher said: "When you have a rort, then the word goes out, there's a rort, get into it and there's a certain section of hte community that dive into anything that's a rort.

"There was a number of people who thought 'there's a rort, I want to get into it before the clock strikes 12. And that's exactly what happened. We had a crazy, over-generous scheme which was never properly costed, which has now come back on all of us who have to pick up the $1.6 billion tab, on our electricity bills."