Green Party launches clean energy proposals
Green Party launches clean energy
proposals
The Green Party has launched a
set of proposals that will make it easier for families to
reap the benefits of solar panels and other small scale
renewable distributed generation.
The plan will
help families to reduce the cost of their power bills while
receiving a fair price for any surplus energy that they
generate.
Today at the Solar Energy Association of
New Zealand (SEANZ) conference, Green Party energy
spokesperson Gareth Hughes released a draft bill for comment
and feedback that would legislate for the proposal.
The proposal involves three main changes in
statute for the Electricity Authority:
·
An amended objective: “to promote greater use of renewable
energy including from distributed generation sources”,
· An amended function: “to establish and administer a fair regime for small scale renewable distributed electricity generation power purchase agreements” and
· An entirely new section 43 in the Electricity Industry Act detailing how this will be achieved. Including 10 year power purchase agreements and a price set by the Electricity Authority.
“The Green
Party wants to make it easy for families to generate their
own power and to receive payment for it,” said Green Party
energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
“At the moment
there are no directives or incentives for power companies to
purchase surplus power off small scale generators. We would
make this a priority in legislation for the Electricity
Authority.
“Our proposal would require the
Electricity Authority to set up a fair and simple power
purchase agreement with those who want to feed in surplus
electricity that they generate.
“Our proposal
means cheaper power bills for families that generate their
own power and the ability to earn income from selling
surplus energy back into the grid.
“I am
proposing to empower the Electricity Authority to update the
Electricity Code to set up and administer a fair regime for
small scale renewable generators.
“We will make
is easy for people to sell their surplus electricity, from
solar panels for example, on their roof.
“Other
counties like Germany have more proactive programmes to
increase distributed generation, Australia and states in the
USA also incentivise people generating their own
power.
“Many states encourage solar power through
similar feed-in-tariff systems but this proposal doesn’t
seek public subsidies or increase the costs of electricity
for other consumers. I just want to reduce regulatory
barriers and make it easy for people to generate their own
power.
“This proposal is aimed at reducing some
of the regulatory barriers for small scale distributed
solutions, ensuring that there are standards and safety
measures in place.
“New Zealand is not currently
on track to meet our 90 per cent by 2025 renewable target.
The most recent IPCC report reiterates the need for us to do
more to meet our fair share of reducing
emissions.
“The future of electricity generation
is not more destructive dams, or dirty coal plants. It is
creative energy solutions like solar panels on the roof of
your house.
“Sustainable Energy has always been a
priority for the Green Party and we will be doing more work
in this space before the 2014 election,” said Mr
Hughes.
For more information:
Powering a clean energy future
proposal
https://www.greens.org.nz/sites/default/files/energy_one_pager3.pdf
ENDS