Solar tarrif should feed in to long term plan

Tuesday, 07 June 2011 16:15

The O'Farrell government's decision to keep the current solar bonus arrangements should now set the foundation for a long term plan for solar in New South Wales, Total Environment Centre said today.

"As a participant in the first Solar Summit we warned against a sudden policy change and supported a long term plan.  It's now clear that  some of the information given by officials to the Summit about the costs of the feed-in scheme were exaggerated and we congratulate the Premier on seeking external advice," said Jeff Angel, Executive Director of Total Environment Centre.

"There's been a long running agenda in the bureaucracy in particular Treasury to run down environmental industry support programs that may seem expensive at first but hold great benefits for the future.  They need to extend their horizons so that we can plan for a clean energy future."

"Now that this current episode has ended we should urgently get on with the second promised Solar Summit and put a solid plan in place," Mr Angel said.