Calls for feed-in tariff inquiry following collapse of Canberra solar company Armada Solar
The demise of Canberra's oldest solar installation company has prompted Australia's peak solar industry council to call for an inquiry into the ACT's solar feed-in tariff.
The Australian Solar Council (ASC) has also warned of a potential conflict of interest for the ACT's major power company ActewAGL, which it says acts as both a regulator and competitor in the solar industry landscape.
Armada Solar went into liquidation this week, leaving 20 employees without a job and numerous customers in the lurch, but not before company founder Justin Ryan fired a parting shot at an unstable industry and ActewAGL's involvement in particular.
Now the ASC wants the ACT Government to put some serious thought into how the local industry moves forward.
The council's chief executive John Grimes said throughout Australia big power companies like Canberra's ActewAGL, which is owned in part by the Territory Government, were doing their best to make it difficult and often unviable for solar installations, like homes and offices, to connect to the grid.
"Right around the country we are seeing a strong pushback from the power companies, making it hard for people to connect, and we think that's outrageous," Mr Grimes said.
"The business model of the energy companies is broken. They are the regulators, but they also are the competitors. Solar takes demand off the network and so for an energy company that's about losing money.
"We need the smart grid of the future, where we have renewable energy... where we allow people to trade energy. And we need the network to facilitate that, not block it."
'ActewAGL is conflicted'
Mr Grimes said the ACT Government needed to play an active role, to make sure that the community got the best outcome.
"ActewAGL is conflicted... This is not about protecting the profits of the big power companies. This is about the smart network of the future and the ACT Government has a role," he said.
"They've been very positive in what they've done to date, but they need to keep a hands-on approach."
He said in particular, Canberrans needed to be paid a fairer amount for the energy they supplied back into the electricity grid.
"We would encourage the ACT Government to hold an inquiry to determine a fair price for that feed-in tariff amount, recognising the value of the energy to the homeowner, and to the network," he said.
Mr Grimes said to date the ACT Government had been a supporter of solar, leading the way for other states and territories with its solar policies.
"They've just built a 20 MW solar farm in the ACT, the biggest in Australia. They have a 90 per cent target by 2030 in the ACT for renewable energy," he said.
"But on the other hand the feed in tariff support is not adequate. We want a fair feed-in tariff for solar customers... an 8 cent feed-in tariff does not represent the true value of that electricity."
Speaking to the ABC, Armada Solar's founder was visibly frustrated about the circumstances surround the demise of his company.
He said it was the impact of local power company ActewAGL that irked him the most.
"They're like a bit of a wild elephant and we're stuck in the cage," Mr Ryan said.
"And it's relatively easy to get squashed."
