quote:

The three state-government owned electricity networks in New South Wales are canvassing the possibility of hitting solar households with extra network charges, purportedly to recapture the “cost” of households exporting solar to the grid.
The proposal – included in a document “Electricity Tariff Reform in NSW” – is sure to outrage the solar sector, which already believes that households are being penalised by being paid so little, and in some cases nothing at all, for their exports back into the grid.

The distribution networks – Ausgrid, Endeavour and Essential – are inviting comments on if there should be “separate network charges for customers who have the ability to use power from the network, and also have the ability to feed surplus power back into the grid.”
It says this charge, effectively a network tax on export, could be extended to households with battery storage and electric vehicles.
“An export generation tariff for network usage could be technology neutral, and could be charged to residential or small business customers who export electricity to the grid to reflect the costs imposed on the network. This could include householders with photovoltaic solar panels, battery storage, or electric vehicles.”

It follows their extraordinary move in taking the Australian Energy Regulator to court after the AER rejected their submissions to spend billions of dollar more on network upgrades. The NSW government is seeking to sell down its stakes in Ausgrid and Endeavour, and needs high revenues to maximise the asking price.
A similar proposal – for an additional network tax on solar households – was made by South Australia Power Networks.
It wanted to charge solar households an extra $100 a year for the privilege of exporting power back to the grid. The proposal was greeted with howls of protest and rejected by the Australian Energy Regulator. But SAPN is still keen to try and implement the change, and has taken the issue to the Federal Court.

Australian solar households – apart from those with discontinued premium feed-in tariffs – are paid little for their exports to the grid.
In NSW, the payment is voluntary, but the recommended level has been cut to 4.8c/kWh, partly due to the falling price of wholesale electricity, and in part driven by the increase in rooftop solar. The pricing regulator says it is cutting tariffs because it wants to encourage battery storage.
The payments for exports do not include any consideration of benefits to networks (in delaying and in some cases avoiding peak demand events), and to the environment (in the form of reduced emissions).
Utilities can then sell that power exported to the grid to other users for the full retail price, which includes the network charges. Now, it seems, the state-owned networks want to pocket that network fee, and charge the solar households an additional fee.

It is similar to the “solar tax” imposed in Spain that is causing outrage in that country, and part of a general push-back by utilities to defend their business models against the rising threat of household solar, battery storage, and the move to decentralised energy.
The networks justify this by saying that they need to be able to meet the “peak demands of consumers”. But as this report released today highlights, networks have already spent $75 billion on upgrades in the past decade to meet peak demand forecast that never eventuated.
The grid has been built bigger than needed, and the costs have already been passed on to consumers.
Muriel Watt, from the Australian PV Institute, says the grid should be seen as a service provider to facilitate a whole range of transfers, and if networks want to remain relevant in future, they need to provide a platform that suits what customers want to do.

“It would seem that having a grid which facilitates customer generation, storage and load is an essential, if they want to remain in business – otherwise customers will drop off, or new grid equivalents will be built (EVs are a good example of being able to transfer power from one site to the next).
“If provision of grid services is transparent, then customers would be in a much better position to be able to decide whether they want the grid service or not. However, networks would certainly need to pay customers for the benefits they provide.”

The networks could address this with truly “cost reflective” tariffs, but seem determined to ignore the issue of air-conditioning that is responsible for high grid costs paid by everyone (and a massive cross-subsidisation from people who don’t own A/C).
Indeed, the paper also canvasses “declining block” tariffs – where the cost of electricity actually falls the more the consumer uses. The networks says this is good, because the more the consumer consumes, the easier it is for the networks to meet their revenue caps.

“Under capped revenue regulation, increasing electricity consumption reduces network charges and declining network consumption increases network charges,” the networks argue.
Watt says the networks are operating in isolation, without taking account of the whole picture. “Less use of, or need for the grid is seen by them as a negative, so we have EE and PV, which reduce grid use, as something to be prevented.”

Negligent posted:

Deny Chris Kenny re entry into Australia on character grounds

ABC posted:

Liberal senator Bill Heffernan has used parliamentary privilege to accuse an unnamed former prime minister of being an alleged paedophile, while also pointing the finger at the judiciary.

Senator Heffernan has been campaigning for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to expand its investigation to include the court system.

He told Senate estimates today that he had given the commission "very disturbing" police documents that named at least 28 alleged paedophiles, some of whom are prominent Australians.

But he said the commission had told him it could not investigate the cases because they were outside its terms of reference.

"We have in Australia, sadly, a compromise at the highest of levels. There is a former prime minister on this list and it is a police document, " he told senators.

"It's not so much the secret that's the problem, it's when a group of people, such as the 28 people on this page, keep each other's secrets that the institution is compromised."

Senator Heffernan did not expand on the allegations or provide any further details, instead focusing on what he believed were the failings of the "the institution of the law".

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Barnaby Joyce Bill "Mad Bomber" Heffernen is at it again.

ScreamingLlama posted:

die in a fire

katlington posted:

What about on an arch nemesis?

katlington posted:

Its Howard.

E: John howard is a pedophile.

Orkin Mang posted:

hi lid

Lid posted:

Whats up?

katlington posted:

Its Howard.

E: John howard is a pedophile.

Lid posted:

I had not

katlington posted:

Its Howard.

E: John howard is a pedophile.

Pred1ct posted:

I watched 4 Corners tonight after hearing all the hubbub yesterday and goddamn it's incredible.

Jackson and Lawler are completely delusional. Surprisingly Lawler is even more of a character than Jackson, his own obsessive audio recordings practically gifted evidence that he'd used power of attorney to steal money to buy a house.

gay picnic defence posted:

What made him think that it would be a good idea to air his dirty laundry on the ABC? Public sympathy or something?

gay picnic defence posted:

What made him think that it would be a good idea to air his dirty laundry on the ABC? Public sympathy or something?

Ahh Yes posted:

I eagerly await the channel 9 produced mini series.

Who to play Kath and Lawler though?


Wolf Creek guy maybe? John from better homes and gardens!

open24hours posted:

Amethyst posted:

We are so utterly hosed with shorten in charge. Good job ALP, you had every opportunity to take advantage and you threw it away by putting a corrupt apparatchik at the top.

Negligent posted:

I like how Labor made it harder to change the leader while choosing a leader that no one really likes

Negligent posted:

I like how Labor made it harder to change the leader while choosing a leader that no one really likes

quote:

We haven’t seen the back of Tony Abbott yet
AS Joe Hockey today waves goodbye to 19 years in Parliament, fellow Liberals are alerting each other: Don’t expect Tony Abbott to do the same any time soon.

The former PM remains angry after four weeks on the backbench and has not shed a belief he can get his old job back from Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Abbott is being encouraged by a small group of supporters and by the well-intentioned sympathy of a larger group of Liberals, who do not believe he has a chance of making a comeback, but don’t want to add to his alienation.

And he continues to talk almost daily with his politically aggressive former chief-of-staff Peta Credlin.

Mr Abbott’s former treasurer Joe Hockey is leaving to replace former Labor leader Kim Beazley as ambassador to Washington, Australia’s most important diplomatic post in terms of national security and the global economy.

His departure will require a by-election for the seat of North Sydney, possibly in the next month. Practice requires a quick ballot to ensure the locals are not left unrepresented, but the summer holidays are closing in and a vote might be put off until early next year.

And that would be more likely were Mr Abbott to quit his seat of Warringah. The two by-elections could be held on the same day to reduce the cost of an expensive double-barrelled democratic exercise.

Mr Abbott has said he will make a decision on his future by around Christmas. After a scattering of carefully selected interviews following his party room defeat by Mr Turnbull, he has kept a low public profile.

Since his initial burst of self-vindication, Mr Abbott has been an exemplary former leader, sharing a backbench spot with Mr Hockey.

However, he continues to discuss the leadership privately with colleagues who have told news.com.au the bitterness is still there, as is his belief he can again be prime minister.

There are some factors behind this.

The departure of Mr Hockey will leave behind his own support group — including Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who has his own long-term leadership ambitions.

They could swing behind Mr Abbott, giving him as many as 14 to 20 MPs as dedicated backers, plus a media squad of bolted-on supporters.

That’s not enough to directly challenge Mr Turnbull, but enough to cause mischief.

Prime Minister Turnbull is aware his hold on the post is not firmly cemented, and that is one reason why he has trod softly on three issues — same-sex marriage, the republic and climate change measures.

A misstep on these matters could upset the right of the party, now commonly referred to as “the base”, and excite more backing for an Abbott return.

The attention today is on Mr Hockey’s farewell speech, but as he takes his leave the dominant question will be: When will Tony take his?