Aurora time-of-use tariff
Update 24 June 2020: Chart below now compares the various tariffs using the 2020-2021 prices. Update 10 Jan 2017. Note that these tariffs are in AEST (ie do not follow daylight saving changes). See official Aurora page for details of these tariffs. Aurora Energy introduced two new time-of-use tariffs, from 1 July 2016 on an opt-in basis. One for residential customers and one for small business customers. The residential Tariff 93 has...
Tasmania’s energy future: fossil or renewable?
The current Tasmanian energy crisis confronts us with a start choice for the energy future of Tasmania, either a retreat to fossil fuels, or an opportunity to take immediate action to ensure that the state has a future powered by renewable energy. Tasmania’s hydro dam levels have dropped every year since the 2012 peak of 62%. Spring 2015 saw inflows fall to less than half of the previous lowest record for that period, resulting in...
A new tariff option
TasNetworks is proposing the introduction of an opt-in ‘demand time of use’ tariff for residential and small business customers starting from July 2017. The new tariff is likely to be of most benefit to customers who can manage the time of their energy use. It may also allow customers with on-grid battery systems to manage their energy costs by storing grid or solar PV energy and using it to reduce peak time consumption. Background...
TREA AGM 29 Oct 2015
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Tasmanian Renewable Energy Alliance Inc. will be held at 6pm on Thursday 29 October 2015 in The Chapel, New Sydney Hotel, Bathurst Street, Hobart. Door prize thanks to SolarSpec: one lucky attendee will win a door prize pack from SolarSpec, contains two DC Isolators, wide-brimmed hat and t-shirt, total value of $150. The business of the annual general meeting is to: elect the officers of the...
Tasmania heading the wrong way on renewable energy
Despite its abundant natural resources of hydro, wind and solar and its renewable energy infrastructure, Tasmania has joined the rest of Australia in doing a U-turn away from a sustainable future. Figures provided to TREA by Melbourne Energy Institute[1] show that in the financial year just ended, Tasmania spent $34m more buying dirty brown-coal fired electricity from Victorian than it earned exporting renewable energy to the...
Boom and bust in the solar industry in Tasmania
As at 7 April 2015 there are over 24,600 solar PV installations in Tasmania with a total installed capacity of over 83 MW. Boom and bust cycles are a constant in the solar industry due to the way changes in government policy are implemented. The recent experience in Tasmania reflects this. Analysis by the Tasmanian Renewable Energy Alliance shows there are now less than 200 new installations a month, compared with around 500 a month...