Is there anything this state government can't mismanage ?
The Federal government thought it would be a good idea to promote the installation of solar energy panels on the roof of homes. To achieve that they offered huge rebates to people who made the investment - and the scheme was an outstanding success. So much so, that it was scaled back when the government became alarmed at the outlay involved.
The New South Wales state government had a different problem. It needed more power stations to meet demand, and saw these solar panels as a way of dodging the need to spend on new infrastructure.
To make solar panels even more popular it agreed to buy back the unused power they generated at a rate of 60 c per kilowatt hour ( kWh ) - a figure far more generous than that of any of the other states.
Now this bought back power is the same electricity that they are selling to you and me - and at 60 c a kWh they would need to hike our electricity bills by at least another $ 100 a year - and this at a time when most people are really struggling to pay their bills.
So - they are locked in to 60 c a kWh for existing contracts until 2016, but for everyone else the buy back will drop to 20 c kWh.
And it seems that despite this - we will get hit with an extra $ 100 on the power bill anyway.
If the outcome was not so serious for struggling families - it would be hilarious !
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