The Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES) has slammed the major coal seam gas and fossil fuel companies that are calling for the end of the Renewable Energy Target.
Speaking today (May 3), AuSES chief executive John Grimes called on our nation's leaders to disregard the fuss from traditional energy providers.
He said: "The Australian government must ignore this ongoing campaign from vested interests and keep building our clean energy future."
Too often, he explained, renewable energy companies are blamed for rising electricity costs, but this is simply not the case.
Only three per cent of electricity price rises across the country are a result of renewable energy schemes, he said, citing figures from the Australian Energy Market Commission.
"The big power companies need to come clean and admit the reason electricity prices are rising rapidly is because of the need to update our creaking electricity grid," John explained, adding that the amount of money that will need to be spent updating the grid over the next ten years is nearly double the cost of the National Broadband Network.
He also added that the success of the solar industry is making some energy firms nervous – but the fact remains that wholesale electricity costs, distribution and transmission are the main driver behind rising energy prices, rather than the renewables sector.
"Big power companies make a lot of fanciful claims about the cost of renewable energy," he said.
"Increased investment in solar means less taxpayer funds invested in an ageing electricity grid."
This, John concluded, can only be considered good news for Aussie households who are worried about electricity costs.
Last month, he revealed that the new Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) report could go a long way to "supercharge" investment in solar power.
However, John asserted that any investment made by CEFC needs to be in addition to the government's Renewable Energy Target to better support clean energy generation and tackle climate change.
Posted by Mike Peacock