Q: What is the National Renewable Energy Target?- The Federal Government has committed to a national Renewable Energy Target (RET), aimed at ensuring 20% of Australia’s electricity supply is generated from renewable sources by 2020.
By law, all electricity consumers, on a national basis, will have to pay for this government requirement through the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) charge, which is made up of two components:
• The Large Scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) – supporting the development of large projects such as wind farms and solar power stations
• The Small Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) – supporting the investment in smaller technologies such as rooftop solar panels and solar hot water heaters.
|
Q: Why was LRET and SRES introduced?- The LRET and SRES Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) charges have been introduced to fund the delivery of the new Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target by 2020.
|
Q: What is the difference between SRES and LRET? SRES assists households, small businesses and community groups with the initial costs of installing small renewable energy systems, such as rooftop solar panels and solar water heaters.
LRET supports the development of large renewable energy projects such as wind farms and commercial solar power stations.
|
Q: How do I receive assistance with the initial cost of installing a small renewable energy system? - If you invest in a small renewable energy system you may be eligible to receive financial assistance. Synergy does not administer any of the financial assistance for these schemes; however, to receive additional information about financial assistance visit www.orer.gov.au
|
|
|
Q: What is Synergy doing about this?In December 2010 we wrote to our contract business customers advising that under Federal Government law, the SRES charge would come into effect from 1 January 2011, and that Synergy would assess the impact this would have on our customers’ charges.
In February 2011 we wrote to our contract business customers again advising them that the new SRES charge will be applied to their accounts and will appear on their bills as a separate line item.
Synergy will continue to keep our customers updated on any further changes in the SRES charge.
|
Q: How does SRES affect me? On and from 1 January 2011, our contract business customers will pay an additional amount under their Electricity Sales Agreement.
For customers on a tariff, these charges will be passed through, over time, as a tariff price increase. We will inform our affected customers when these increases come into effect.
|
Q: How will the SRES charge appear on my bill?- From December 9, 2011 the SRES charge that appears on your bill will be based on your actual electricity consumption for the current billing period.
You will see a charge shown as a separate line item on your Synergy electricity bill called ‘SRES charge.’ This itemisation will enable you to clearly see the contribution to the Federal Government’s National Renewable Energy Target.
|
Q: Why does the SRES charge appear as a separate line item on my Pricing Plan bill?- Separating charges for our Pricing Plan customers is not standard practice. However, due to this change in law, we will show the charges separately on your account so you have visibility of the size of the charge and impact on your energy bill.
|
Q: How does SRES affect me?- On and from 1 January 2011, our contract business customers will pay an additional amount under their Electricity Sales Agreement.
For customers on a tariff, these charges will be passed through, over time, as a tariff price increase. We will inform our affected customers when these increases come into effect.
|
Q: How is my SRES charge calculated?- From December 9, 2011, your SRES charge is calculated based on your electricity consumption for your current billing period.
|
Q: Where do I go to find more information on SRES?You can visit the websites below for more information, or contact 1300 859 333.
Orer.gov.au (Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator)
Climatechange.gov.au (Department of Climate Change)
|
