The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) today corrected its final report into a mandatory solar feed-in tariff for customers in regional Queensland.
“Last Friday, the QCA announced that a feed-in tariff rate of 6.026 cents per kWh would apply from 1 July 2015 for Ergon customers, said QCA chairman Malcolm Roberts
“I am very disappointed to say that the QCA made an error when calculating the new tariff rate for 2015-16. The error was brought to my attention today and we are acting immediately to correct the mistake and issue an amended report.
“The correct feed-in tariff rate for 2015-16 will be 6.348 cents per kWh.
“Fortunately, no customer will have been affected by the error. The feed-in tariff rate commences on 1 July 2015.
“The new rate will be slightly lower than the current tariff (6.53 cents) but higher than the rate announced last Friday. The slight fall in price from 2014-15 to 2015-16 stems largely from new, lower estimates of energy losses by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
“The QCA mistakenly used the wrong energy loss factor when calculating the new rate for 2015-16. When buying energy from household solar systems, retailers avoid paying for energy lost over the transmission and distribution system – the QCA believes the price retailers pay for solar energy should include that saving.
“Unfortunately, the tariff rate announced on Friday by the QCA applied the wrong loss factor, relating to larger business customers.
“This error was detected after queries from the editor of Renew Economy.
“Customers receiving the 44 cents per kilowatt hour feed-in tariff under the Solar Bonus Scheme are not affected by the new tariff. That tariff will continue under the Solar Bonus scheme until 2028–29,” said Malcolm Roberts.
Customers in south east Queensland (those on the Energex distribution network) can choose from a range of feed-in tariffs offered by competing retailers. To help customers find the best deal, retailers’ feed-in tariff rates are published on the QCA’s price comparator website: www.qca.org.au
Retailers are also required to include details of their feed-in tariff offers on their pricing fact sheets.
More information on the Solar Bonus Scheme is available from the Department of Energy and Water Supply website http://www.dews.qld.gov.au/energy-water-home/electricity/solar-bonus-scheme