A key renewable energy policy from the former South Australian government that was designed to help more people access home energy storage systems will be removed from the state budget on Thursday.
Key points:
- A plan to subsidize domestic batteries will be removed from South Australia’s state budget on Thursday
- A second solar panel program will also be cut, and the government says it was a scam
- Opposition says both initiatives were good for reducing carbon emissions and electricity costs
The domestic battery plan was a compromise that former Prime Minister Steven Marshall made in the 2018 election and was implemented once the Liberal Party took office.
The program, which initially offered a $ 6,000 grant that was later returned to $ 2,000, was expected to be taken over by 40,000 homeowners.
Recently reinstated Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said recruitment was less than half that amount and was one of the reasons the new government had chosen to remove the program in the first budget. of Labor since his election victory in March.
“They [the former government] he thought that reducing the subsidy would increase the use of batteries, “Koutsantonis said.
“So we’ll charge you less than before and the batteries are more expensive now, so there will be a lot of battery consumption. It just didn’t work.”
The solar panel program was also removed
A second program, Switch for Solar, will also be removed.
It was designed to allow eligible dealers to exchange 10 years of their energy and cost of living allowance for a solar system installed at no initial cost.
But Koutsantonis described the program as “a scam” and was happy to have “killed” it.
“Honestly, the most appalling policy of the old government was to take out pensioners and take away their concessions,” Koutsantonis said.
“Making concessions to the elderly is wrong. You shouldn’t do that.”
The cut in both programs is expected to save taxpayers $ 19 million.
The Switch for Solar program began as a test in northeastern Adelaide and the southern coast of the state. (ABC News: John Gunn)
The decision of the opposition and the greens is aggravated
Opposition leader David Speirs criticized the decision to remove both programs, accusing the Labor government of being more interested in “empty gestures and symbolic rhetoric” than helping households transition to renewable energies.
“Just one day after declaring a climate emergency, the Malinauskas government is trying to eliminate two programs that have a practical impact on reducing emissions in South Australia,” Speirs said.
“On top of that, these two programs are helping to reduce the cost of living at a time when many South Australians, especially those living on concessions, are afraid of rising electricity prices which we know they are on their way “.
The MLC of the Greens, Robert Simms, was equally critical of the movement.
“At this time of climate crisis, workers should support and improve programs like these designed to reduce carbon emissions,” Simms said.
“The removal of these programs may offer the new government some budget savings, but this decision will have a huge cost to our environment. South Australians will be dismayed by this short-sighted thinking.”
Conservation Council SA CEO Craig Wilkins said the removal of the domestic battery plan was a shock.
“If it’s just a matter of saving costs, then it’s very disappointing because of the government’s declaration of a climate emergency, because we know that switching to clean energy is an essential part of this response to an emergency,” he said. to say.
“South Australia is truly a world leader in renewable energy and this has been built on programs like the ones being discarded.”
Koutsantonis said the government was focusing on grid-scale renewable projects to help reduce energy prices for all energy users.