Sun sets over minimum payments for Victorians with rooftop solar

“Retailers can still offer feed-in tariffs and Victorians can find the most competitive offers on the free and independent Energy Compare website,” D’Ambrosio said.

The Australian Energy Market Operator, which oversees the east coast electricity grid, has been intensifying warnings that the system is flooded with too much solar power during the day.

This glut is forcing authorities to curtail other sources of renewable electricity to prevent dangerous spikes in voltage levels, which could cause blackouts, just to keep the system stable.

Victoria’s decision to remove the feed-in tariff “makes sense”, said Matt Rennie, co-chief executive of energy consultancy Rennie Advisory. “It will encourage innovation and design of new products … which will reward customers for storing their power during the day and feeding it back into the system during peak times,” he said.

However, the Smart Energy Council, which represents solar and battery installers, said Victoria’s abolition of feed-in tariffs was a “disaster”, and accused the government of capitulating to the interests of energy companies.

“There should be a national minimum feed-in tariff policy and there should be, with urgency, a distributed home battery rebates and incentive policy,” Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes said.

While tariffs are expected to drop in coming years, household batteries are expected to become cheaper, which would increase the economic benefits of ownership.

This would allow households to store the solar power that is not needed by the grid during the day and reduce their reliance on the grid at night, when prices rise as it is powered largely by coal and expensive gas-fired generation.

Batteries typically retail from $10,000 to $15,000 and with the federal election due by May, both major parties are considering rebates and other incentives to cut the purchase price and boost battery uptake.

Victoria’s Essential Services Commission chair Gerard Brody said the decision to remove the feed-in tariffs reflected the widespread uptake and success of solar panels across the state.

“Victorians have heeded calls to reduce carbon emissions and industry has increased renewable energy generation,” he said.

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