The State Government has finally announced it will With more and more Australians opting to install solar panels, this is good news. A decision on the details of the scheme will be made shortly. If this scheme is to play its part in reducing the State's greenhouse emissions, it is critical the framework is right. People should be rewarded if they choose to invest thousands of dollars to actively make a difference to the State's greenhouse pollution levels by generating their own renewable energy. The Nature Conservation Council believes a strong solar feed-in tariff must pay householders for all of the electricity they produce (called a gross feed-in tariff), not just for the surplus electricity that isn't used in the household and is fed back into the grid (net feed-in tariff). Currently the NSW government only wants to pay for the excess energy produced. A strong, gross solar feed-in tariff is an essential part of tackling climate change. The scheme adopted in the ACT operates on a gross tariff as does the German model. 
The incentive should be available to businesses as well as households. This would help small businesses diversify their income and create opportunities for large-scale renewable energy. The NSW Government wants to limit incentives to households. A net feed-in tariff will disadvantage households and businesses which use the electricity they produce during the day, and have little to export to the grid. In consequence, it will take much longer to recoup the cost of the initial solar installation, which is a disincentive. The NSW Government only wants a scheme to include rooftop solar panels. However, to provide an incentive for large-scale renewable power that can feed into our homes and businesses, the scheme should cover all renewable energy technologies. Such a scheme would make a significant contribution to tackling climate change and would reduce NSW's dependence on coal-fired electricity. Compared with 1990, carbon emissions from NSW have risen 30%, which means that we have a huge job ahead just to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions, much less meet the modest 5% cuts now proposed for 2020 (Sydney Morning Herald 12.1.09). 
If you are a NSW resident, you can send the following prepared message to the Hon. Carmel Tebbutt, Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, by clicking here.Including comment of your own would show your personal concern about this issue, and would make it look different from the hundreds of others we hope will be sent.
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