Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Energy spokesperson
The Energy Minister is blind to the potential of the renewable energy sector in Tasmania and has no long-term plan to support investment by Aurora's solar customers.
Despite the fact that 24,000 households have installed solar panels, the Minister has decided that Aurora won't support renewable energy because it’s “not their job”.
In March this year, 8,200 households were underpaid for the solar electricity they put into the grid and it's still not fixed.
Over 200 jobs have been lost in the solar installation industry in Tasmania since the feed-in-tariff for solar was dramatically cut two years ago.
In mid-2013, there were more than 500 solar power installations each month. It was revealed in Government Business scrutiny today that the number of monthly installations has plummeted to just 143.
Tasmania imported more dirty electricity from Victorian coal-fired power stations, via Basslink, for 25 of the first 42 weeks of this year. It’s a myth that all our power is clean and from Hydro.
We need to do everything we can to improve investment in all forms of renewable energy and this government is failing.